Kayla
by ScifigeekET
Summary: Kayla once traveled with The Doctor. Now she wants to come back. She knows the Doctor can show her the whole of time and space, but can he fix what truly matters; her broken heart?
1. Searching For The Doctor

The Doctor.

The Doctor.

The Doctor.

Kayla sighed after yet another dead end. This one had progressed for quite a while. But it hadn't gone far enough.

She pulled her brown hair back in a ponytail and pushed her black, square-framed glasses up her nose. She sighed. This was getting her NO WHERE. She'd been searching for The Doctor for MONTHS, and there was NOTHING. Absolutely NOTHING.

"C'mon babe, open this door. I won't bite…"

Kayla shivered as Falcon's voice drifted from the outside. She pretended like she hadn't heard him. It was better that way.

"Seriously, sweetheart. I'm sorry for what happened. I… I don't know what happened. Please, just give me another chance…"

_ANOTHER one? _Kayla wanted to spit the words out at him. _How many chances have I GIVEN you? And how many times are you just going to get worse…?_

She kept the venomous thoughts in her head. She didn't want to make everything worse than it already was.

She collapsed on her keyboard, sobbing. How could it GET any worse? It was impossible. IMPOSSIBLE!

And that was why she had to find him. The Doctor. Because he was the only person who could help. He'd done many impossible things. He could help. He could help…

She sighed and wiped away the tears, annoyed with herself. Even if The Doctor couldn't help with her problems, he COULD take her away from them. If he still wanted her with him, that was…

She brought her fingers to the keyboard again, enjoying the small ticking noises the keys made. This was her element. Her world. This was what she did.

She typed the words in again. The Doctor. Blue Box. TARDIS.

She sighed. Another dead end.

"Kayla! OPEN THIS DOOR!"

He was getting angry again. Kayla shivered and tried not to think of how fragile the lock was, how easily the wood could crack, how the splinters would fly across the room…

She looked back at the computer screen. She remembered, so long ago, how the Earth had moved. Planets different from the normal ones that hovered in the sky glistened brightly at the heart of the Medusa Cascade…

She tapped the keys again. As far as she could tell, there was something that happened those days. Something important.

"Kayla! If you don't open this door you…" Falcon let loose a stream of harsh words, words Kayla didn't want to hear again, much less repeat.

She almost collapsed again. But she knew. There was a phone number, one that everyone in the world called at the same time. And if she was right, and she could find that number…

She typed faster as she heard Falcon bang on the door.

It took a total of five minutes. In those five minutes, the pounding on the door grew louder, then lessened as Falcon gave up, probably thinking she wasn't home. That was fine by her.

And there. There it was.

07700 900461

Kayla's breath caught in her throat. She swallowed. This was it.

She picked up the phone and slowly dialed the number, as though she feared the phone would shatter in her hands if she went too fast.

The phone rang twice before a confused and familiar voice answered.

"Hello?"

Kayla stopped breathing. Her voice cracked. "Doctor?"

* * *

Inside the TARDIS, The Doctor was sitting down. At last, he was getting SOME peace and quiet.

He flipped quickly through his eighth book, and then set it down on the ground next to him. He listened to the quiet, the silence filling his ears. Nothing was wrong, nothing was chasing after him, for once. He was safe. He was having some well-deserved peace and rest.

"BORING!" He cried, then leapt to his feet. The TARDIS moaned softly in agreement.

He grinned and started running around, hitting random buttons, turning random knobs, and giving the TARDIS a good whack with a hammer.

His boredom didn't last for long. The ringing of a phone shattered the would-be silence.

The Doctor looked around, searching for the source of the noise. He picked up the phone.

"How are you RINGING?" He asked. He grinned. "Is it Martha? Hmm? Who else knows this number?"

He looked at the number that was calling him and raised an eyebrow. "But THIS isn't Martha."

He put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

He heard a woman's voice on the other end. "Doctor?" Her voice cracked on the word.

Despite everything, The Doctor smiled. "Yeah, that's me. Who wants to know?"

"Doctor, it's me. Kayla."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Kayla?"

He could hear the smile in her voice. "Yeah."

"Kayla!" The Doctor smiled. "How did you get this number?"

"Long story." Kayla laughed.

"It doesn't involve anything illegal, does it?"

Kayla scoffed. "Please. Do you really think so little of me?"

"Kayla…" The Doctor said, warning, yet smiling at the same time.

Kayla sighed. "Nothing! I promise. A simple search. I had to hack into a few systems to find the number, but that was it!"

The Doctor sighed, though he wasn't really disappointed. "Which ones?"

"Well, tell Sarah Jane that Mr. Smith needs better security."

"Mr. Smith? How in the universe did you manage that?"

"Easy enough, if you know how. 'Course, people who don't believe in aliens would have a harder time."

The Doctor grinned. "Well, of course."

Kayla chuckled. Suddenly, her voice became serious. "Umm… Doctor? Can we… You know… talk?"

"What are we doing right now?"

He could imagine her glare. "You know what I mean."

The Doctor smiled. "All right. Where do you want to meet?"

"How about my old house?"

"Old? You moved?"

"I have a life outside of you."

The Doctor's smile widened. "All right. When?"

"Umm… April 4, 2010. In twenty minutes, so… 11:48?"

The Doctor nodded, though she couldn't see it. "I'll be there." He promised.

Kayla's voice was filled with relief. "Thank you, Doctor. See you in twenty."

"See you in ten." The Doctor corrected. He set the phone down.

He sighed. Kayla! It had been so long since he'd seen her. He grinned. "Do you miss her?" he asked the TARDIS.

The TARDIS groaned in agreement.

He looked fondly at his ship. "Yeah. Me too."

He pressed a few buttons, then pulled a single lever.

The TARDIS shook as it flew through the Time Vortex. The Doctor was thrown to the ground. When it finally stopped, The Doctor was laughing. He pulled himself off the ground, grinning.

"Right!" He cried. "Let's go meet Kayla, shall we?"

* * *

Kayla carefully peeked out the door. Falcon was gone. She was safe. Despite that, she went out silently, as though her very footsteps could bring him back, bent on revenge.

She ran outside to her small, bright blue car. She sat inside and turned the key. She smiled as the car purred into life.

Five minutes later, she was in front of her old house.

True to his word, The Doctor was there after another five minutes had passed. The TARDIS groaned into life, shimmering into existence in front of her. A thin, energetic and incredibly familiar man jumped out.

"KAYLA!" he cried.

Kayla ran over to him. "Doctor!"

The Doctor grinned as they met, his arms wrapped around her. It was nothing more than a friendly hug; it could never be any more.

Kayla grinned as they separated. "It's been way too long since I've seen you." She smiled and gently stroked the side of the TARDIS. "And her too."

The Doctor's smile couldn't be wider. "Far too long." He agreed.

She sighed and looked at him. "So… umm…"

He looked back. "What?"

Her eyes went to the ground. "I just… You know. Wanted to see you again."

He grinned. "You want to come back." He translated.

Her eyes lit up. "Can I? Please, please, PLEASE?"

"I don't know… after all, you were the one who left me…" He teased.

She looked at him, her eyes pleading. "Please, Doctor? PLEASE?"

The Doctor's face broke into a smile. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed the breath out of her. "Of course!" He held her at arm's length. "Do you really think I wouldn't want you with me anymore?"

Kayla smiled and hugged him back. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you thank you THANK YOU!"

The Doctor chuckled. "I take it you're happy."

Kayla laughed. "You think?"

The Doctor looked at her. "But what about your boyfriend? Freddie, was it?"

Kayla smiled weakly. "Oh, he'll be ok." She looked at him.

He looked back, concern in his eyes. "What is it?"

She shook her head, as though trying to clear it. "Nothing. It was nothing."

He smiled. "But won't he miss you?"

"Freddie? No. I don't think he will." She smiled softly.

He nodded slowly. "So, do you want to pack? Or do you just want to take off?"

Kayla shivered. No doubt Falcon would be back by now. "Let's just go. The TARDIS has a closet, doesn't it?"

The Doctor nodded with a smile. "Right then."

She grinned. "It's been way too long since I've been inside this thing." She said, stepping over to the TARDIS. It groaned softly at her touch.

The Doctor grinned back. "You first."

She smiled and gently, softly, carefully opened the door.

The inside of the TARDIS greeted her. Coral-like structures supported it, and a tall, glass pillar decorated the center. Kayla's eyes widened, wonder filling her face.

"The TARDIS." She breathed. "Oh, it's been far too long."

The Doctor followed her inside. He chuckled at the look in her eyes. "Happy now?"

She whirled to face him. "Yes. Yes yes yes yes."

He laughed. "So! Where next, eh?"

She smiled. "Anywhere. Absolutely anywhere."

The Doctor nodded. "You got it." he ran to the controls and started stabbing buttons energetically.

Kayla laughed. "Good to be back."

Her gaze grew distant. Falcon would be wondering where she was. He would have broken the door down by now. He would see that she wasn't there…

She shivered, and the TARDIS seemed to groan sympathetically.

"I never asked." The Doctor said, breaking her out of her thoughts. "That boy, Freddie? How is he?"

She looked at him, a sad smile on her face. "Falcon." She corrected. "His name is Falcon. And he's fine."


	2. Hidden In Illusion

"8113!"

"8113?"

"8113!"

The Doctor grinned as he pulled the final lever.

"What happens in 8113?" Kayla asked, a smile on her face.

"I have no idea! Let's find out!" The Doctor's grin was wild, and he was running around like a maniac.

Kayla laughed. "Sounds good to me!"

He ran to the doors, then stepped back. "All yours." He said with a smile.

Kayla grinned. "Thanks."

She shivered, but for once, it wasn't out of fear. It was out of excitement. Out of joy.

She opened the door.

"Not half cold, is it?" She asked, laughing as a freezing wind blasted against her face. She shivered again and stepped back into the TARDIS. "I think I'll need a coat."

The Doctor smiled. "You know where it is?"

Kayla smiled back. "Don't insult me."

The Doctor chuckled and Kayla went back to find the closet.

The TARDIS groaned.

"Yeah." The Doctor agreed. "I think she's brilliant, too."

The lights flickered for a fraction of a second.

"What?" He asked. "What is it?"

The TARDIS moaned quietly.

"You really think so?" He asked. "I mean, sure she's a little… suspicious, but I don't think she's a THREAT."

The TARDIS groaned again.

"Oh." The Doctor replied, his eyes lighting up. "Nah, couldn't be."

The TARDIS settled into the new planet, and did no more.

The Doctor gently stroked one of the coral-like pillars. "You worry too much, old girl."

Kayla came out, now wearing heavy pants and a large coat. "I think that settles it." She said with a grin.

The Doctor smiled. "Cozy?"

"Very." She replied.

He gestured to the doors. "I think this is still yours."

She chuckled and went to the doors. "Yes, I think it is."

She opened the doors, and The Doctor smiled.

"Oi! Why won't the TARDIS make up her MIND?" Kayla demanded.

The Doctor laughed. "Why? What happened?"

Kayla came back in. She pulled off her coat. "It's HOT out there!" A bead of sweat traveled down the side of her face. "What's up with the sun, eh?"

The Doctor couldn't help himself. He started to laugh harder.

"Where's the sunscreen?" Kayla growled, walking back to the closet.

The Doctor smiled. "In the back."

Kayla muttered something quietly to herself, and walked back.

When she came back, she was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, with the sleeves rolled up. She had white tennis shoes, and a sweater was tied around her waist. She was rubbing in sunscreen on her cheeks.

"Relatively neutral, in case the TARDIS decides to take us somewhere else." She glared at the TARDIS console.

The TARDIS groaned, indignant.

"Aww, you hurt her feelings." The Doctor teased.

Kayla chuckled and tapped the console gently. "Sorry." She whispered.

The Doctor grinned and gestured to the doors once more. "Shall we try again?"

Kayla nodded. "Let's."

She ran to the doors once more. "Oh, for CRYING OUT LOUD!"

The Doctor laughed. "What is it this time?"

"It's a forest! What the heck is a FOREST doing here?" She grumbled and walked out. "That's it. I'm done changing for this stupid thing. Let's go."

The Doctor grinned and followed her. 

They walked through the trees. The Doctor dodged branches and roots easily. Kayla had a slightly harder time, getting whacked in the face more than once by branches and leaves that stung her face.

"AH!" The Doctor cried. "That explains it, then."

"What?" Kayla asked, coming up beside him.

Hovering in front of one of the trees, was a small lever.

"There… there's no… connection, nothing!" Kayla whispered, surprise in her voice. "It's just… there!"

The Doctor smiled. "Exactly. This whole place… it's nothing but illusion."

Kayla snorted. "Illusion? Oh, that explains why there's REAL dirt in my REAL hair, and REAL branches slapping my REAL face." She rolled her eyes.

The Doctor chuckled. "Of course it's REAL. You THINK it's real, therefore, it FEELS real, LOOKS real, SOUNDS real, SMELLS real, and…" He stuck his tongue out. "Thathes threal thoo." He said, his voice muffled and strange as he tried to talk with his tongue out.

Kayla laughed as he pulled his tongue back in.

"Nyah." The Doctor said, his face twisted in disgust. "Tastes REAL, but that doesn't mean it tastes GOOD." He shivered theatrically.

Kayla grinned. "I wouldn't think so."

The Doctor shrugged it off, as though he had just done the most normal thing in the world. "At any rate, THAT'S our way out." He pointed to the lever, hovering in thin air.

"Then let's GO." Kayla said.

"Wait." He whispered, grabbing her arm as she went in front of him. He pointed to the lever again. "Take a closer look."

She looked at him, confused, then walked slowly over to the lever. She gasped. "Are those… DIAMONDS?"

The Doctor nodded. "Not so uncommon anymore. Let's see… 8113… Yes. Around this time, diamonds aren't quite so rare. They've lost their value. They're child's toys, basically. Useful only as decoration."

"So… someone decorated the lever?"

The Doctor nodded. "Indeededoo. And what does that mean…?"

Kayla thought about this for a long time. "Umm… that it belongs to someone, not like, a cooperation or something?"

The Doctor grinned and nodded again. "Very good, Sherlock!"

Kayla laughed. "I think I'm Watson." She replied. "I'm looking at Sherlock."

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, the basic idea for him, anyway…" He replied.

Kayla's eyes widened. "What?"

"Anyway!" The Doctor cried, quickly changing the subject. "This isn't just 'some person's' lever. This is, most likely, the work of… a little girl, I'd think."

"What?"

The Doctor grinned. "Well, by this point, humans know about diamonds on other planets. So, it's mostly just good for the kids who want to put shiny sparkling rocks on things like…" He walked over to the lever and pulled it up. "The lever for their Illusional Teleporters!"

Kayla and The Doctor began to shimmer with a faint blue light.

Suddenly, they were somewhere else.

* * *

Claire was pulling out another one of her 'settings.' She sighed. She was BORED. All of these settings, and not one of them was the one she wanted.

The Stars. She'd gotten that one for her birthday. Then her stupid brother had gone and smashed it. He said it wasn't on purpose, but Claire knew different. Of course, her parents didn't believe her. Why should they? Her brother had always been the one in the family who never lied, never talked back, never did anything wrong.

Until three months ago…

"OW!"

Claire's head whipped around, and her eyes popped.

There, on the floor, groaning, was a man. He was thin, and had brown hair that was all over the place. Next to him, there was a woman with brown hair pulled into a ponytail, and black, square-framed glasses on her face. She was laughing.

"Well, THAT was unexpected." She said, chuckling and getting to her feet, before helping the man up. "You ok?"

"Ok? I'm always ok." The man smiled and took her hand, pulling himself up next to her.

That's when he saw Claire. "Oh…" he whispered.

The girl turned her eyes to where he was looking. "Umm… Hi." She said, smiling.

Claire looked at them. "Who are you?"

The man smiled at her. "Well… I'm The Doctor." He started patting his coat, as though looking for something. "Ah. Here we go." He pulled out a small, leather wallet and held it out for her to see. "We were just… fixing your Illusional Teleport."

She looked at him, suspicious. Carefully, she took the wallet from him. She looked it over.

His identification looked sound enough. Then again, she had no idea what 'sound' meant. "Maybe you should show my dad…" She whispered.

The Doctor smiled. "All right. Sure. Why not?"

She nodded slowly, and stood up. "DAD!" She called. "DAD!"

* * *

The Doctor looked at Kayla and raised an eyebrow. She chuckled.

They followed the little girl to the other room. Kayla guessed she was about seven years old.

"DAD!" She kept calling. "Dad, where are you?"

Kayla looked at The Doctor. "What did you show her?"

The Doctor handed her the Psychic paper. "I think you remember this." He whispered.

Kayla nodded. "But what did she see?"

The Doctor shrugged. "How should I know?"

Kayla looked at him. "You're the one who showed it to her."

"Yeah, but it just showed her what she wanted to see." He shrugged.

The girl opened another door, peeking into the room. "Dad?" She asked carefully.

"Go away!" A harsh voice called back.

The little girl swallowed. "Dad? It's just me. Claire."

"I said GO!" The voice sounded out again, followed by a large object flying through the door.

Claire dodged it. "Dad? Are you ok?" Panic entered her voice. Obviously, this wasn't anything like how her father normally behaved. "DAD!"

She tried to run into the room, but The Doctor took hold of her arm. "I wouldn't if I were you."

"LET GO!" She screeched.

The Doctor dropped down to her eye level. "I know this won't make sense." He lifted up the object that had been thrown out of the room. "THIS is something that's not from your world."

Kayla looked at him. "Her father's an alien?" She asked, catching on immediately.

The Doctor nodded. He looked at Claire. "Do you recognize this? Did he have this around the house, or do I need to get worried?"

Claire shook her head. "I've never seen it!" She cried, still trying to get away from him.

The Doctor let her go. "I'm going in." He whispered to Kayla. "Watch her."

Kayla nodded as The Doctor went into the room.

"Claire? Claire, listen to me. Please, listen."

Claire shook her head. "That's my DAD!" She shrieked. "There's… there's something wrong… he wouldn't…" She trailed off, tears in her eyes.

Kayla dropped down to her eye level. "I know." She whispered. "I know…"

She sighed. If only her problems were as simple as this girl's. There was an explanation for this. Her father obviously wasn't human, or even a friendly alien. Her father wasn't really the one who hated her.

Not like Falcon…

She shivered and looked back at the little girl. "It'll be ok. The Doctor can fix it. He'll fix it, I promise…"

Tears were pouring down Claire's face. "My dad wouldn't do this…"

"I know. It's ok." Kayla sighed. "Everything will be ok."

* * *

"I SAID GO!"

"Oh, well, I'm afraid I can't do that…"

The Doctor took another step foreword.

"You have NO idea what you're DEALING with, HUMAN!" The man who was obviously Claire's father shrieked.

The Doctor came closer. "You happen to be human yourself."

The man smiled darkly. "So it would seem."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Or, at least, the man you're disguising yourself as is human. And he has a human daughter as well." He took another step closer. "So I would suggest you tell me what's going on. Before I REALLY get upset."

The man smiled darkly. "And what are you going to do to stop me, HUMAN?" He hissed.

The Doctor's eyes were made of steel. "Oh, but I'm not human."

The man laughed, a coughing bark of a laugh. "Figures. The one creature on this ROCK to show any signs of INTELLIGENCE." He spat, blood splattering the floor.

The Doctor looked at him. "What do you want?" He demanded.

The man laughed again. "Straight to the point! At LAST!" he shook his head. "Stupid creatures with simple minds that take forever to ask what they want to ask." He rolled his eyes.

The Doctor glared at him. "Well, since it seems you won't tell me yourself, I'll have to figure it out, won't I?" The Doctor pulled something out of his pocket. It was the same object that this man had flung out the door.

"NOW!" The Doctor said, turning it over in his hands. "Seeing as Claire didn't recognize this as something kept around the house…" He looked at the surface. "I'm guessing you haven't been here for a long time. Or, if you have, you've been keeping this quiet."

He cleared his throat. "SO! This happens to be… unimportant to the whole thing." He tossed the object behind him. He heard it hit the wall. He probably caused a crack, but he didn't really care. "But that thing around your neck IS important."

He was in the man's face in a second, and had the small, necklace-like object off the man's neck and in his hands in even less time.

The man screeched, and transformed in front of The Doctor's eyes.

"THAT'S better, 'ello!" The Doctor said with a smile.

The creature in front of him hissed. Its dark eyes locked on him. All eight of its dark eyes.

The Doctor clicked his tongue and held up the small necklace. "No wonder you wear this! That little girl would have nightmares just LOOKIN' at you!"

The giant spider bared its fangs and hissed, ready to attack.

* * *

The vibrating of a phone in her pocket made Kayla jump. She pulled it out and looked at the number, sighing in relief.

She flipped it open. "Hey, Tracy."

"Kayla! Oh, thank goodness. Where have you BEEN?"

Kayla smiled. "I'm… traveling."

"Again? Kayla, I thought you gave up on all that!"

"Aww, c'mon, Trace. You can't really expect me to never travel again."

"Yeah, but THREE weeks? And not a single phone call? You've had Falcon worried out of his mind!"

The words told her two things. One, The Doctor had it wrong, and they weren't going to be back for at least three weeks in her original time.

Two, Falcon was going to be furious.

Kayla shivered. "Look, I'm sure Falcon will be fine."

"Fine? FINE? Kay, he broke down your DOOR. He's been looking all over for you!"

"Did he go to the police?"

"No, thank goodness. I mean, now I've got a hold of you and can tell him where you ARE, it's a good thing. But seriously, what were you thinking? Taking off like that?"

"I have a life outside of Falcon." Kayla winced at the words. Falcon would NOT be happy.

"Whatever, Kay. He still needs to know where you are, I mean, come on!" There was a pause.

"Yeah. It's her." Kayla heard Tracy call to someone in the background.

Tracy's attention turned back to her. "Hey, Falcon's here. He wants to talk to you."

Kayla winced. Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

"Put him through."


	3. Creature From Nightmares

"Kayla? Babe? Is that you?"

Kayla swallowed. "Yeah. Yeah, it's me."

"Oh, thank goodness." Falcon's voice was layered in relief, but Kayla knew it wouldn't last long. "Where were you?"

"Traveling." Kayla replied.

"Without calling me? Babe, you shouldn't have done that."

_DON'T call me BABE! _Kayla wanted to shriek. _STOP!_

Instead, she cleared her throat. "Sorry."

"Dang, Kay. Don't scare me like that."

Kayla clenched her teeth. _DON'T call me KAY, either. Only my friends call me Kay. You aren't my friend. _

She swallowed back the words. "Really. I'm sorry."

"When are you coming home?"

_Never. _"Soon."

"Where are you?"

_In the year 8113, fighting off an alien who's disguised as a little girl's dad. _"France."

"France, eh? You like it?"

_I would, so long as you weren't there. _"Yeah. Yeah, it's nice."

"Hmm… Maybe, someday, you and I could go? Then you could travel, and I wouldn't have to worry about you."

_Like I would go anywhere with YOU. _"Yeah. That sounds great."

She heard Falcon call off to Tracy. "All right. See ya, Trace!"

Kayla shivered. Now Falcon was alone. Now he would be furious. Now he wouldn't hold back.

"Babe, I just want to know why you didn't CALL."

Kayla winced. "Sorry. I… forgot."

"For THREE WEEKS?"

His voice was starting to rise. She flinched. "Yeah…?" It was more of a question than an answer.

"Kay, don't LIE to me. I know when you're LYING." He hissed.

The old, familiar ache in her shoulder came back. She looked at the floor. "I have to go."

"DON'T YOU DARE HANG UP ON ME!" Falcon roared. Kayla took a step back.

"I won't." She whispered.

"TELL ME, KAYLA! TELL ME WHY YOU WOULDN'T CALL!"

"I… I can't. I'm sorry. I…" Kayla was on the verge of tears.

"TELL ME!"

* * *

"You know, I never really liked spiders."

The creature hissed. "Exactly, my dear friend." Venom dripped from his fangs like the sarcasm dripped from his voice.

The Doctor nodded slowly. "I mean, what's the problem with spiders? Every other creature on Earth has two or four of everything. Eyes, legs, etcetera, etcetera." He eyed the creature. "But not spiders, oh no! Spiders have to defy everything. Eight legs, eight eyes, I mean, c'mon, what's up with that? Eight eyes?" He shook his head, and his eyes locked on the creature. "But YOU, YOU, sir, you are not a spider."

The creature laughed, a gurgling laugh that bubbled In the back of its throat. "Very good. I never expected another of our kind here."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Our kind?"

The creature rolled all eight of its eyes, then transformed into something else. This time, it had a pepper pot shape, a long eyestalk, and baubles on its base.

"Apologies for the image." The creature muttered in a low, deep voice that highly contrasted its shape. "I'm afraid it's incredibly difficult to transform into something that the subject is not afraid of." He tried to look at himself, and, when finding it impossible, suddenly seemed to realize exactly what he looked like. "Though I don't see the Daleks as an unreasonable fear."

The other eyebrow joined the first. "I'm not afraid of the Daleks." 

"Ah, but your own thoughts betray you." The creature chuckled. "Even if it is not fear, it is horror at what they are." If it could have shrugged, it would have. "Same difference, in the end."

The Doctor eyed the fake Dalek cautiously. "You said 'our kind.'"

"The Hidden, of course! What, did the teleport scramble your memories, too?" The creature sighed. "It did the same to my son. Cheap thing. Almost made him compromise the entire mission! Going around, acting entirely different from his disguise." The eyestalk swiveled around as the creature shook its head in disgust.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "The Hidden?"

The fake Dalek seemed to stare straight through him. "Great stars, man! How can you not remember?" He sighed. "Just as well. Works better when trying to hide, no?" He chuckled.

The Doctor smiled. "Yes. Yes I suppose it does." His eyes locked on the eyestalk. "But I'm one of the few with… shall we say… concerns? What about the little girl, Claire?"

"What of her?"

"What's going to happen to her?"

"Ah. Well, my sister is coming. This IS our disguise family." He sighed. "Taken with the others, I suppose."

"Others?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

The fake Dalek chuckled. "Of course the others. Where else do you think the rest of her family's gone?" Its eyestalk locked on The Doctor. "Contained, most likely. How would I know?"

An idea formed itself in The Doctor's mind. He grinned. "Very good, sir. We just had to make sure."

"Sure? Sure of what?"

The Doctor smiled and pulled out his Psychic paper. He placed it in front of the fake Dalek's eyestalk. "I'm here to pick up the girl. Your sister should arrive shortly."

The blue light in the eyestalk widened to fill the black outline. "You're with The Hidden Halls staff? Why didn't you just say so?"

The Doctor shrugged. "You can't be too careful these days. What with security on the up-and-up and all that."

The eyestalk nodded approvingly. "I see… very good. I never would have recognized you."

The Doctor winked. "No one ever does."

The creature transformed again, into the large spider it had once been. "Stupid Earth girl. I'll be glad when she's gone. These sudden changes are always short-circuiting my hologram." He looked at the necklace in The Doctor's hand. "Err… if I could have that back…?"

The Doctor smiled. "Oh! Right. Sure thing, here you go!" he placed it around the creature's neck, and it changed again, once more taking on the shape of the little girl's father. 

The man nodded. "Thank you. You have no idea what it's like to worry about that stupid human blundering in on things that aren't her business."

The Doctor nodded sympathetically, but inside he was furious. "Of course. That won't be a problem anymore." He grinned. "We appreciate your business. Hope you enjoy your stay!"

The man nodded again. "Anywhere away from the Jadoon is a good place to be!" he noted.

The Doctor's smile widened. "Indeed."

He walked to the door. "That's all I needed to hear." He whispered. Suddenly, he turned around. "I forgot to ask. Why were you spitting blood?"

The man rolled his eyes. "The hologram and the shape-shifting battling again. Nothing I can't handle."

The Doctor nodded with a polite smile. "Ah. Just wanted to make sure."

But as he turned around, the Doctor had an entirely different theory from the man's.

One that wasn't nearly that pleasant.

* * *

Kayla shivered. "Falcon… I wanted to call you, sweetheart. I really did." She pulled her shirt sleeve down to cover the bruise on her wrist, a reminder of her last encounter with him. "I just… didn't have time."

Falcon snarled on the other end, before unleashing a torrent of the worst words he could think of. Finally, he hissed into her ear. "When you come back, you better have a better answer than THAT."

He hung up. 

Kayla would have broken into tears had Claire not been there. Thankfully, she was. Better still, The Doctor came out of the room a few moments later, his eyes hard as steel.

"We're taking Claire to the TARDIS." He whispered.

"What?" Kayla asked, confusion in her eyes. "Why? What happened?"

"Later." He whispered through clenched teeth. They all walked.

"What about my dad?" Claire asked. With The Doctor's tone of urgency, it was hard not to wince at how loud she sounded.

"Claire, we need you to be quiet for a minute, ok?" The Doctor whispered. "That man in there is NOT your dad. We're going to go and find your dad, all right?"

Claire looked at The Doctor. "Why should I trust you?"

The Doctor's eyes locked on hers. "Because I'm The Doctor."

For some reason, Claire didn't ask any other questions.

* * *

Claire had the typical bigger-on-the-inside wonder in her eyes when she saw the TARDIS. Kayla grinned, but The Doctor was too absorbed in his own thoughts to really notice anything. He went around the TARDIS, pressing buttons and making calculations.

After about an hour, Claire yawned. "When are we gonna sleep?" She asked Kayla in a whisper.

"You want to now? There's a bed in the back."

Claire nodded and rubbed her eyes. Kayla brought her to the bed, and she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

"Poor kid." Kayla commented as she came next to The Doctor.

"Been through a lot." The Doctor agreed, frowning at yet another paper the TARDIS had produced.

Kayla looked at him. "Are you going to explain anything?"

The Doctor's attention was entirely on the paper. "Maybe…" He whispered.

Kayla looked at the TARDIS. She was in mid-flight. The Doctor had taken her into the Time Vortex as soon as they'd arrived. She raised an eyebrow. _Little help please? _Her thoughts asked.

The TARDIS suddenly tilted violently to the side, throwing the Doctor to the floor. Kayla, who was expecting it, grabbed the console and managed to stay upright. Claire noticed nothing in her deep sleep.

The Doctor glared at the TARDIS. "Whose side are you on?"

The TARDIS groaned unapologetically.

Kayla chuckled. "Now am I going to get some answers?"

The Doctor sighed. "Tomorrow. When you wake up."

Kayla raised an eyebrow. "I'm not asleep."

The Doctor grinned, and a small, gold pocket watch dangled in front of her face. She couldn't help but look at it, though she knew exactly what was going on. More than once she'd been a victim to him and his stupid hypnotizing watch.

"I…hate… you…" she whispered, before blacking out. The Doctor smiled and caught her before she hit the ground. He placed her on the small, cushioned bench next to the console. He took off his brown coat and placed it over her, pulling it up to her shoulders.

The TARDIS moaned.

The Doctor shrugged. "She needed some rest. She hasn't slept for what? Twenty-four hours?"

The lights flickered.

"Don't give me that. She was asking for it."

He looked at the screen, and his eyes filled with concern at what he saw there.

"Dreams? What do you mean, dreams?"

* * *

Kayla shook her head, awake at last.

Her eyes widened. No. No, he wouldn't do this to her! NO!

She looked around at the place that had become her home. "NO!" She cried.

"Babe! You're home!" Falcon's voice.

Kayla shivered. "H… Hi, sweetie."

"Hi sweetie? HI SWEETIE? That's all I get?" He opened his arms, expecting a hug.

Kayla hesitated for a second.

Fury blazed in Falcon's eyes. "Listen. I'm not asking for much, here. I want a hug, after not seeing you for THREE WEEKS, and you don't even want to do THAT?" He snarled.

Kayla was on her feet in a second. "No, no babe, don't think that…"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Falcon spat. "You want to leave? THEN LEAVE!" he gestured to the door. But he was standing right beside it.

Kayla winced. She wanted, so very badly, to walk out that door. But she knew that if she dared, she'd never make it out alive.

"I SAID LEAVE!" Falcon roared, in her face in a second. His right hand went up, and came down across her cheek with a loud clapping sound. "LEAVE!"

Kayla winced as his fists met her arms and face, over and over, again and again. Then one cracked against her shoulder. She cried out in pain.

She collapsed to the floor, and he began to kick her, over and over. She felt a rib snap.

"DOCTOR!" She cried. "PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!" Tears ran down her face in a waterfall.

"No Doctor's going to help you now." Falcon snarled. He kicked her again. Blood was pouring on the floor.

Finally, it was over. He spat on her, then walked out the door. "Think about THAT the next time you wanna leave." He snapped.

Kayla sobbed onto the floor. Blood was pouring from her side. Her shoulder was throbbing.

"Doctor…" She whispered. "Doctor…"

The Doctor could make the monsters go away. He scared creatures from nightmares.

So why couldn't he stop the worst monster of all?

* * *

"No."

The Doctor looked at the TARDIS.

"I can't believe you would even suggest that. Kayla's entitled to have SOME privacy in her own skull, for crying out loud!"

The TARDIS wobbled slightly.

"You sneak." The Doctor scolded, looking at the screen again. "How could you do that to her? She's allowed to sleep without you poking around in her dreams."

The TARDIS creaked.

"No. I'm not looking." He turned away from Kayla, his arms crossed.

Another creak.

"No."

This time, the TARDIS did nothing.

The Doctor took a quick glance at Kayla, then turned away. "No."

He listened to her quiet breathing. She murmured something in her sleep.

He glared at the TARDIS. "You are truly evil, you know that?"

The TARDIS did nothing, but seemed unapologetic.

The Doctor sighed and walked over to Kayla. He placed his hands on her face and closed his eyes, entering her mind.

* * *

The Doctor looked at Kayla. She was on the floor. Her lip was bleeding. One of her ribs was partially sticking out of her skin where it had broken.

"Doctor…" She whispered. "Doctor…"

The Doctor ran over to her. "I'm here." He carefully lifted her head into his arms. "I'm here."

Kayla looked at him, her eyes pleading. "Why did you leave me, Doctor? Why can't you stop the monster…?"

The Doctor's eyes widened. "I won't leave you, Kayla. I won't go, I promise."

Kayla looked at him for a long time, saying nothing.

* * *

The Doctor gasped as he came out of Kayla's mind. She was crying in her sleep.

The Doctor carefully lifted up her head and sat down in front of it. He kept her head in his arms.

Kayla's eyes fluttered. She curled up into a ball, and The Doctor pulled her into his arms. She laid her head on his shoulder.

Her eyes opened. "Doctor?"

The Doctor gently stroked her hair. "I'm here." He whispered. He hugged her gently. "You ok?"

Kayla swallowed and nodded slowly.

There was silence for a moment, the only noise coming from the TARDIS, traveling across time and space.

Finally, The Doctor broke the silence. "You spoke of monsters."

Kayla swallowed again. "I talk in my sleep?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Not this time." He explained with a sheepish grin. "You can blame the TARDIS. She convinced me to look into your head. To see your dream."

Kayla raised an eyebrow. "More like you filled in the gaps on her side of the conversation.

The Doctor snorted, indignant. "The TARDIS is alive, you know." 

Kayla grinned. "Of course. But talking to her is your way of problem-solving. The TARDIS may be alive, but she doesn't communicate with others very well. No words. You just interpret the way you want to."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. The lights flickered. He smiled. "See? You hurt her feelings."

Kayla smiled.

Then she realized what The Doctor had said. "You… you came into my dream?"

The Doctor nodded. "Sorry."

Kayla shook her head slowly. "What did you see?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Nothing much." He looked at her. "You were hurt." His eyes were full of concern. "You spoke of monsters."

Kayla nodded.

There was silence for another long moment. Finally, The Doctor spoke up again. "Kayla… do you want to go home?"

"NO!" Kayla's response was immediate, instinctual. She sighed. "No." She whispered. "Doctor, I'm not scared of monsters. I'm… I'm not scared of aliens, or anything like that. It was just a nightmare. Nothing more."

The Doctor looked at her for a long time. _What are you not telling me? _His eyes questioned. _What are you keeping secret?_

Kayla tried to shrug him off, to get off of the bench, but the Doctor wouldn't budge. She tried again, but he was so wrapped in his own thoughts he hardly noticed.

Kayla panicked. She tried desperately to get free. Instinct took over, and her hand flew out.

"OW!"

Kayla rolled over on the floor, and landed on her feet, snarling. Shock entered her face.

The Doctor was clutching his nose. "That. Hurt!"

Kayla went over to him. "Oh, Doctor, I'm so sorry."

She tried to get his hand away from his nose, but he wouldn't move it. "Ow ow ow! Stob it, stob it!"

Kayla gave up, and The Doctor slowly took his hand away from his nose. A few drops of blood oozed between his fingers.

"Eeesh, Kay." The Doctor said, shaking his head in wonder. "Where'd you learn to hit someone like that?"

Kayla shrugged, relieved that he wasn't too mad. "I honestly don't know."

"Well, wherever it is, I want a word with that place." His hand went back to his nose. "And that word is: OW."

Kayla chuckled. "I'm really sorry, Doctor."

The Doctor blew her apology off with the wave of a hand. "Ah, it's ok. Not like you did it on purpose or anything." He hurried to the other end of the TARDIS and pulled out some tissues. He placed him under his nose. "That's better."

Kayla smiled weakly. "I know. I just feel horrible. I never meant to…"

The Doctor blew it off again. "My fault. It was a survival instinct thing. Don't worry about it."

Kayla sighed. "Really."

The Doctor looked at her, still holding the tissues under his nose. Kayla chuckled, then burst out laughing. "You look ridiculous."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed, but there was a playful twinkle in his eye. "Watch it, missy. I could sue!"

Kayla chuckled. "And the point would be…?"

The Doctor laughed. "Exactly." He pulled the tissues away. The blood had stopped. "Ah! Better and better."

Kayla grinned. "Sorry about that. Really, I am."

The Doctor smiled. "What? You think I've been alive for 904 years and haven't been punched in the face before?" He winked. "Not a chance!"


	4. LIAR!

"You promised, Doctor." Kayla whined. "You said you would when I woke up."

"If you got some proper sleep, maybe I would have." The Doctor replied.

"You still mad about me punching you in the face?"

The Doctor looked at her. "Kay, I was never mad. How many times do I have to tell you that before you believe me?"

"As many times as it takes for me not to feel bad about it."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Humans!" He grumbled.

Kayla grinned. "Aww, you love us anyway."

"That's the problem." The Doctor replied, suddenly right next to her. "That's EXACTLY the problem." His eyes searched hers.

Kayla shivered, feeling as though he could see straight through her.

The Doctor saw her shiver, and politely stepped away, acting like he'd seen nothing. "Fine. I'll tell you." He said grudgingly.

Kayla smiled. She sat down on the bench and motioned for The Doctor to do the same. He eyed the bench warily.

Kayla chuckled. "I won't punch you again, I promise."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow and decided to lean against the TARDIS console instead.

Kayla sighed, a smile on her face. "Fine. Just tell me what happened."

The Doctor sighed. "I've been doing a little… research. As far as I can tell, Claire's father was a victim of a cooperation called 'The Hidden Halls.'"

"And that would be…?"

The Doctor's eyes were hard as steel. "As far as I can tell, it's basically a vacation spot for criminals. Somewhere they can get away from the people chasing after them."

Kayla raised an eyebrow. "Meaning…?"

"Imagine you're an alien criminal, looking for somewhere to hide. The Hidden Halls, for the right amount of money, will find a family on a planet. One that isn't too noticeable. It swaps your family with that one. You hide out as someone else, the Jadoon know nothing."

Kayla swallowed. "So… they just… replace that family with someone else?"

The Doctor nodded. "Holographic projectors cover the REAL image with the image of the family they're replacing."

"What happens to the real family?"

His eyes hardened. "Contained."

Kayla shivered. "That's… horrible." She whispered.

The Doctor nodded, steel in his features. "Isn't it just."

* * *

Torlo swore. "ANOTHER one?"

Relak swallowed, fear in his eyes. "Y-yes, sir."

Torlo started pacing around the floor. Air escaped through his teeth in a hiss. "HOW? How could the Jadoon FIND HIM?"

Relak shook his head. "I don't know, s-s-sir."

Torlo was in Relak's face in an instant, holding him up against the wall by his collar. "Are you leaking information? ARE YOU?" He roared.

Relak cringed. "No! No, sir I would never…"

Torlo pushed him against the wall again, then let him go. Relak collapsed in a heap at his feet. He whimpered and pulled himself up.

Torlo was already pacing again, swearing as loud as his lungs would allow. "THEN HOW?" He demanded.

Relak winced. "I'm sorry sir, I don't know."

Torlo glared at him, and Relak cringed, expecting him to lose it again.

Instead, Torlo snarled and pointed to the door. "Get out of my sight." He snapped.

Relak was more than glad to do as he was told. He ran out as though there was no tomorrow.

* * *

The ringing of a phone shattered the silence.

Kayla pulled out her cell phone, swore, and flipped it open. "I have to take this." She explained to The Doctor in a whisper. He nodded.

She placed the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Kayla! Babe, how are you?" Falcon's voice drifted in on the other end.

"I'm fine." She replied, filling her voice with a bright tone that seemed to convince both Falcon and The Doctor. "Umm… listen, babe, I know this is a really strange question, but how long has it been since you last called?"

"That was yesterday. Why?"

She smiled, though it was incredibly fake. Surely The Doctor could see though it.

Apparently not. He smiled at her.

Her fake smile widened. "No reason." She replied to Falcon."

"When are you coming home?" His voice took a darker tone, though only slightly.

"Umm… a while."

"Where are you?"

"Close." She responded, then winced.

"You think you could be here by tomorrow? I… I wanna talk to you."

"Ummmm…" she looked at The Doctor. "Tomorrow?" She mouthed.

The Doctor smiled and nodded.

Kayla cringed inwardly, but nodded back. "Sure." She told Falcon. "Tomorrow's good."

She could hear the smile in his voice. "Great! See you then."

She sighed and hung up. "You think we can pop back to my time for a few minutes?"

He smiled. "No problem."

He started running around the TARDIS. Kayla sighed and gently tapped the coral-like structure.

"Think you can get us there on time?" She whispered. She sighed. "I'd hate to think of what Falcon would say…" She shivered.

The TARDIS groaned sympathetically.

"So! Why do you need to go home, anyway?" The Doctor questioned.

Kayla sighed. "I have to see Falcon again."

"Falcon? You mean Freddie?"

Kayla rolled her eyes. "Yes, Freddie is his real name. But he prefers Falcon."

The Doctor snorted. "Right. Excuse me." He smiled. "He's the boy you left for, isn't he?"

Kayla nodded. "I ditched the whole of time and space to be with him."_ Worst mistake of my life. _She thought.

The Doctor chuckled. "So long as I don't have to meet him."

Kayla laughed. "No problem." But inside, she was shaking. Thank goodness The Doctor wasn't coming. Falcon would KILL him, beyond the point of regeneration. He was one of the jealous types.

Her heart skipped a beat. She hoped Falcon wasn't too mad…

* * *

"Falcon?"

"Kayla!" Falcon exclaimed.

Kayla winced inwardly. "I'm home." She said, a smile plastered all over her face. "I don't have much time…"

Falcon sighed. "Babe, you couldn't have given me a while with the love of my life?" He smiled, came over to her and kissed her.

Kayla cringed at his touch, but kept it hidden, kissing him back. "Sorry, sweetheart."

He smiled, then his expression became suddenly serious. "Babe… why are you so interested in traveling all of the sudden?"

She shivered. "I don't know… I just… met an old friend and I…"

It was a mistake. "An old friend?" He cut her off. A hint of darkness filled his voice. "Who?"

"Just… The Doctor." 

He raised an eyebrow. "Doctor who?"

"His name is John Smith." She lied. "Doctor John Smith."

It was a worse mistake then the last one had been. "HIS?"

She swallowed, wincing at the rise in his voice. "He's just a friend, sweetie."

"Is he?" His voice leveled, but remained threatening. "Is he just a friend?" He looked into her eyes. "Don't lie to me, Kayla."

Kayla nodded quickly, but her muscles were tense, waiting for him to strike. He wouldn't believe her. She knew that. "Yeah. He's just a friend."

He nodded slowly, but disbelief was raging in his eyes. "Why were you so close to home, babe?"

Kayla winced, but shrugged. She should have guessed that would happen. "We were going somewhere close. I don't know where. He wanted to surprise me." She shrugged again, but realized how incredibly stupid she was being. She was trying to convince Falcon that The Doctor was just a friend. Falcon was suspicious. This just fueled it.

Suddenly, he pinned her to the wall, his hands on her collar. "You're LYING TO ME." He hissed. "How COULD you, Kayla? HOW COULD YOU?"

Kayla didn't answer, hoping that would help, but it only made him more furious. "ANSWER ME!" He snarled.

Kayla winced and opened her mouth to speak.

Too late. Falcon's fist connected with her face. She cried out, gasping as the taste of blood filled her mouth.

He dropped her, and she collapsed in a heap on the floor. He came down next to her. "Who is he?" He demanded.

"I told you. A friend. Doctor John Smith."

Falcon rolled his eyes. "Tell me THE TRUTH!" He slammed her head against the wall.

Kayla whimpered. "It's TRUE!"

"IT ISN'T!" He roared. His hand gripped her arm, too hard. Kayla knew it would bruise. She'd have to cover it up.

"Please!" She begged, her voice barely a whisper.

Falcon's eyes narrowed. He looked at her for a long time, then sighed and stood up.

Kayla looked at him, fear filling her features.

He sighed. "I don't want to hurt you, babe."

_LIAR! _Kayla wanted to scream. _LIAR! LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR!_

He looked at her. "I'm going to cool off for a few minutes so I don't hurt you."

_Like you haven't ALREADY. _She wanted to spit. _Like you haven't already HIT ME. Like you haven't already threatened to TAKE MY LIFE. _

"But you better be here when I get back." He hissed. "And you better have a better explanation then THAT."

Kayla cringed, and Falcon left.

She breathed a sigh of relief. But now she was faced with a choice.

Should she leave? Knowing Falcon, it could save her life.

But it could also put everyone else's in danger.

She and Tracy were best friends. She couldn't leave her to face Falcon ALONE, wondering where Kayla had gone. Eventually, Tracy would crack and tell him where Kayla was, or whatever fake place Kayla had told Tracy.

But then again, Tracy had always been more confident than Kayla. Maybe she would be able to do something…

She shivered. Did she really want to take that risk?

She stood up and walked to the mirror. She winced. She dreaded telling The Doctor where the large cut in her lip came from. She could make something up, of course, but The Doctor had a way of knowing when you were lying. She could avoid that if she stayed, of course, but she would be there for something much worse. She'd wanted to travel in the TARDIS again for a reason. To get away from Falcon.

Could she really leave The Doctor again?

She sighed and made up her mind. She picked up a small book, and a tear fell from her eye…

* * *

The Doctor smiled. "All done?"

Kayla nodded.

The Doctor's eyes turned to her, then narrowed on the cut on her lip. "You ok?" He asked, concern filling his voice.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kayla asked.

"Your lip…" The Doctor replied.

Kayla brought her fingers to her lips, and when she pulled them away they were covered in blood. She smiled. "Oh." She chuckled. "I'm such an idiot. It was hilarious. I just ran right into one of those glass sliding doors." She grinned.

The Doctor grinned back, but Kayla could see in his eyes that he knew there was more to it.

"So, where to next?" She asked, getting off the subject.

The Doctor allowed it. He smiled. "We're going to find Hidden Halls."

"And Claire's dad?"

The Doctor nodded and began running around the TARDIS. "Indeedeedoo."

She grinned. "Good. That poor kid…"

"Is still asleep." The Doctor brought a finger to his lips.

"Still? Wow. Kid's a heavy sleeper."

"Not really. It's only been… six hours?" He looked to the TARDIS for confirmation.

She groaned. The Doctor smiled and nodded.

Kayla rolled her eyes. "You and this ship." She grumbled.

The Doctor bristled. "She is a living, thinking being, thank you very much."

"Yes. But she doesn't TALK."

"Does too." The Doctor looked like someone had kicked his puppy.

"Not like we do. I mean, yeah, you get little hints of emotion and all, but that's about it."

The Doctor glared at her for a moment, then pet the TARDIS gently. "It's ok. She doesn't mean it."

Kayla snorted. "Do too."

"You aren't helping." The Doctor replied.

Kayla chuckled. "So. Where are we going?"

"The Traiklon market on Revlok III. It's a nice place. And I have a few… contacts who might be able to help."

* * *

The Terlatian Child whimpered as the large, dark blue box groaned into life, materializing out of thin air.

She wanted to scream, to order the Time Lord away. But she couldn't. Her head was burning, the future ordering her to release it from the prison that was her mind.

She ran, ran as fast as she could. She could handle The Doctor. She would show him the future. But the TARDIS was something else entirely as it ripped a hole in the fabric of space and time itself…

* * *

Kayla had changed into a long-sleeved shirt. She skipped out of the TARDIS, The Doctor following. The TARDIS would take care of Claire.

The Doctor grinned. "Ah, smell that Revlokian air!" He took a deep breath in through his nose.

Kayla sniffed, then winced. "It smells like fish."

The Doctor nodded. "Exactly!" He smiled and started walking towards the center of everything.

Kayla laughed and followed. Already, memories of Falcon were fading. Time was healing her.

Or maybe a Time Lord was.

* * *

The Terlatian Child looked at the Time Lord for a long time. He'd long ago been separated from his companion. Her pencil danced across the page, the future slipping into the known world through her tiny fingers.

When the picture was finished, she folded it in half, stood up, and walked over to The Doctor.

Carefully, she tugged on his coat.

He turned to face her, and she held out the picture for him.

* * *

Long ago, there had been a famous Terlatian. Outside of his knowledge of the future, he had a good life, a NORMAL life. Almost human, in fact.

But perhaps his most famous quote had to do with his Terlatian heritage.

"Terlatians don't see the future. Only glimpses. And those glimpses are uncontrollable. We do not always want the future to happen. We merely observe. We don't need to draw it, to write it down. But we do need people to know. Because knowing what happens in the future can drive a person to madness. And who can go through that alone?"

The small girl in front of The Doctor was definitely Terlatian. The cat-like eyes, the pointed ears, and the hair, floating around her as though she was underwater, were all signs of that.

But the clearest sign was the piece of paper she was holding.

The Doctor smiled kindly, and quickly searched his pockets for something, anything, that he could give her. Many Terlatians earned their living this way, and he didn't want to leave her with nothing.

But she held up her hand, stopping him. "No." She whispered. Her voice carried the dignity and grace of most of her species, but her eyes were hollow, full of pain. "I don't need your money, Time Lord. This is a future that must be told."

He looked at her for a long time. Finally, he gently took the paper from her hands.

As soon as he'd done that, a smile crossed her face. She walked away from him, almost skipping. She was no longer an adult, but a happy child, dancing and playing the days away.

The Doctor, on the other hand, had a weight on his chest. This picture could reveal anything. Not everyone WANTED to know what happened in their future. Terlatians caught glimpses of the future through a rift in time, born on their planet before locking itself in their very DNA. And the future wasn't always pleasant.

Did he really want to risk it?

He sighed, pulled out his glasses, put them on, and opened the picture.

He swallowed. It was of him. He was sitting on the TARDIS floor, leaning against a coral-like structure. Hanging on a hand rail in front of him, was Kayla's jacket.

The Doctor was holding a book in one hand. That hand was lying on the ground as though it no longer cared enough to keep the book next to his eyes.

The other hand was covering his face. His eyes were hiding under his fingers, but he noticed a tear that had found its way from his eye and onto his cheek.

The Doctor looked at the book, surprised that he recognized it. Kayla had just brought it in today. She'd told him never to look at it. It was basically a journal, but Kayla had wanted to keep it secret. There was some writing in it, but he couldn't read it.

Basically, the Doctor looked perfectly fine, physically. But there was no one alive who wouldn't say he was in pain.

But why?

One word decorated the top of the picture. SECRETS.

What secrets?

His eyes darted about around the picture, then found smaller words in the bottom right corner. He looked at them for a long time. Four simple, small lines, holding with them a dark mystery that he was determined to figure out.

_Secrets betrayed._

_ Secrets revealed._

_ Open your eyes._

_ See what's concealed. _


	5. Lies Of Your Mind

Kayla was smiling, walking up to one stand after the other, marveling at the amazing objects from different planets.

She came up to a stand, advertisements for some sort of computers decorating it. She smiled. There was no system in the universe she couldn't understand.

The person at the counter had blue-tinted skin, but otherwise looked relatively humanoid. Her smile was bright as she looked at Kayla. "Can I help you?"

Kayla smiled back. "No thanks. I'm just looking."

"Know anything about computers?"

Kayla grinned. "You could say that."

"Oh?" She handed her a small, hand-held device. "Try it."

Kayla looked at the woman for a long time. There was something in her eyes that just told her she could be trusted.

Her eyes flickered to the device. She never could resist a challenge when it came to technology. "All right." She said at last. She took the device from the woman.

It was simple enough. It was basically a laptop, only smaller. But all computers had a code. A code made of ones and zeroes.

And, if it had that code, she could crack it.

She typed quickly on the small touch screen keypad. Numbers danced and flashed before her eyes. She smirked. "Easy." She told the woman.

The woman looked at her for a long time. "I've been expecting you, Kayla." She whispered.

Kayla raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"

She sighed. "I had to make sure it was you. That system would only work for you. It's coded to your DNA."

Kayla chuckled nervously. "I think you have the wrong person…"

"Wrong. I have exactly the right person." She looked at Kayla. "Don't you recognize me?"

Kayla looked at her for a long time. Suddenly, her eyes widened. Her breath caught in her throat. "Tracy?

* * *

The Doctor folded up the picture and put it in his pocket. What secrets? What was Kayla hiding from him?

Or, rather, what WOULD she be hiding from him? This picture could happen later today, or it could happen in a million years. That was the problem. You never knew when.

"Doctor!"

The Doctor turned around to face the speaker. It was a tall, young woman. She looked human, but The Doctor knew otherwise.

"Laurlyn!" The Doctor exclaimed. The woman smiled.

"I knew you were here." Laurlyn told him. "I heard your companion's thoughts and went to look for you."

The Doctor smiled. "I'm sure she won't be too happy about that one."

Laurlyn winked. "No human ever is." Suddenly, her expression grew serious. "But she's hiding something. I can't tell what it is."

The Doctor looked at her, concern in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Laurlyn sighed. "Exactly what I said. There are secrets in that young one's mind…" She shook her head slowly.

"But you can tell, surely? I mean, no secret can be kept from you." Confusion filled his face.

Laurlyn nodded. "Secrets, I can handle. But not when the person is lying to themselves."

"What do you mean?"

Laurlyn sighed again. "People, particularly humans, have a tendency to lie to themselves. They don't want something to happen, so they act like it won't. They tell themselves whatever they need to so they can believe it. The problem with that is they normally DO believe it. They become blind to reality. It makes secrets much harder to understand." She pinched the bridge of her nose, desperately trying to concentrate.

"So… she's keeping something secret from herself?" The Doctor questioned.

"Exactly." Laurlyn nodded. "If only I could tell what it WAS…" She concentrated for a moment before turning to The Doctor. "It seems she's not the only one with something on her mind." Concern filled her eyes. "What's wrong?"

The Doctor smiled sadly. "Why don't you tell me?"

Laurlyn chuckled. "I didn't think you'd want me to pry. I mean, you're one of the few creatures in the universe who can block me out."

"For the most part." The Doctor corrected, defending her telepathic skill.

She smiled. "For the most part." She agreed. She sighed and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they held nothing but fear. "You spoke to the Terlatian Child." She whispered. Pain filled her voice.

The Doctor sighed. "Yes." He admitted, handing her the piece of paper.

She unfolded it. Her eyes, already filled with fear, now held pure terror. "Doctor…" She shook her head. "That Child knows nothing but grief and misery. Everything she says is true. None of them have ever been changed. And they all focus on despair." She sighed. "I know the Child well…"

"Do you know what this is?" he asked, holding up the picture again.

She shook her head. "That's the problem with Terlatians. Not even they know what is happening, nor when it is happening."

The Doctor looked at her, concern in his eyes. "Do you think it has anything to do with Kayla?"

Laurlyn didn't answer.

* * *

"Trace?" Kayla's voice cracked. "But… how?" 

Tracy sighed. "I'm from the future, Kay."

"But… your skin!" Kayla exclaimed, indicating the blue tints in Tracy's face.

"Fake, I assure you. The Doctor said it would wear off by tomorrow."

Kayla took an involuntary step back. "You know about the Doctor?" She breathed.

Tracy nodded. "Indeed. He's the one who brought me here. Said it was important." Her eyes narrowed. "I can't honestly say I disagree."

"What's important?"

Tracy glared at her friend. "Kay, I know what's happening between you and Falcon. I know that he's hit you."

Kayla swallowed, then tried to brush it off. "It's not that bad, Trace. It's just a phase. He'll stop."

Tracy's eyes hardened. "Are you kidding me? Kayla, people like that NEVER stop. He'll just keep getting worse and worse until I'm left without a best friend."

"It's not that bad. It's not like he's REALLY hurt me." Kayla snorted.

"Oh yeah?" Tracy snarled. "What do you call that CUT on your LIP, Kay?"

Anger sparked in Kayla. "It's nothing, ok? Falcon loves me, Trace!"

"LOVES YOU? You call that LOVE, Kayla?"

Kayla glared at her friend. "Yes, as a matter of fact."

"Kayla, you're scared to death about going back home! You're terrified of what he's going to do to you, terrified what he'd do The Doctor if they ever met, terrified of HIM! That's NOT LOVE, that's PAIN."

"It's FINE, Tracy! Stay out of it!" Hate burned in Kayla's eyes.

"I CAN'T!"

Kayla took a step back, surprised at the ferocity in Tracy's eyes, the pain in her voice.

"I can't just sit by and watch my best friend LIE to herself." Tracy whispered. "Because that's what is happening. Your entire relationship with that man is nothing but one huge LIE. That's all it will ever be."

Kayla looked down. A sigh escaped through her lips. "It's not a lie, Trace. I love him. And he loves me back."

And with that, she slipped into the crowds, leaving her friend behind.

* * *

"Doctor!"

The Doctor whirled around. Kayla was grinning.

"Eeesh! I thought I'd lost you." She looked at Laurlyn. "Who's this?"

The Doctor allowed a fake smile to cross his face. "Kayla, this is Laurlyn. Laurlyn, this, as you know, is Kayla."

Laurlyn extended a hand. "Nice to meet you."

Kayla shook it.

_Don't tell her anything. _The Doctor's mind begged Laurlyn.

_No worries. _Her thoughts whispered back.

He sighed in relief.

Laurlyn quickly saved them from any awkward conversation. "So, I heard you were looking for the Hidden Halls."

The Doctor's ears pricked. "The very same."

She smiled. "That's good. So were we."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "We?"

Her smile widened. "I have a surprise for you."

* * *

"His majesty, King Tektran of Reltakia IV." Laurlyn introduced the man in front of her.

The Doctor lowered his head respectively, without completely bowing. "Your majesty."

Kayla copied The Doctor's movements. He winked at her.

Tektran smiled at them. "Please. Enough with the formalities, already. They're just so…"

"Boring?" The Doctor guessed.

Tektran smiled. "Exactly, my friend."

Laurlyn grinned. "Tektran, this is The Doctor, and his friend, Kayla."

Kayla, for the most part, had been trying to hide behind The Doctor. Now Laurlyn called her name, there was no point. She stepped to one side carefully.

Tektran's breath caught in his throat.

Laurlyn raised an eyebrow at him, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards in amusement.

Tektran recovered quickly. "THE Doctor?" He asked, one eyebrow raised.

"The very same." Laurlyn replied.

Tektran looked at The Doctor, his eyes lit up. "And you're looking for Hidden Halls?"

The Doctor nodded. "We promised to help."

Tektran smiled. "Perfect!"

Laurlyn smiled as well and turned to The Doctor. "He's looking for them, too. And we have considerably more information than you do."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Laurlyn nodded. "Unfortunately, Tektran is bound by certain… rules. He controls a planet; he can not risk a war by trespassing on another."

The Doctor grinned as she realized what she was saying. "But for someone who is… anonymous…"

Laurlyn smiled. "Exactly. And we have information that can help."

* * *

Tektran was having a hard time keeping his eyes off of Kayla. Every so often, she'd catch him staring, and the blue tints of his skin would darken in embarrassment, and he'd look away quickly.

But he couldn't help it. Every time, his eyes would wander back to her. To her dark brown eyes, hidden behind her glasses. To her perfect face. To just how simply beautiful she was.

He swallowed. He couldn't help it. His heart was pounding, and he began to grow nervous.

"And we have some information that can help." Laurlyn told The Doctor. Tektran snapped back to the conversation.

"We have coordinates, and names." He told The Doctor. "Other than that, you're on your own."

For the first time, Kayla grinned. "That's all we'll need."

Tektran's breath caught in his throat again. Her smile lit up her face, making it even more perfect than it had already been. And her voice! It sounded like… singing.

Laurlyn grinned and raised an eyebrow. He barely noticed.

But there was something worrying him. The cut on her lip. It was the only imperfection. He wanted to fix it, make it so that her beautiful face had never been hurt, could never be hurt.

"Right!" The Doctor exclaimed, yanking Tektran out of his daze once again. "If you'll help us out, I think we'll be off!"

Tektran nodded quickly. "We have two names. Torlo and Relak. The heads of the Hidden Halls organization."

The Doctor nodded.

"They're on a planet called Lieteara."

Kayla raised an eyebrow. "Well. Another planet that I can't pronounce."

Tektran smiled.

"I know where that is." The Doctor said, startled. "That's in the Inochi system. Not too far from here."

Tektran nodded. "Precisely. That was why we were here. To find help."

"You found it." Kayla said with a grin.

Tektran looked at her for a long time. "I guess we did." He said with a soft smile.

"All right then!" The Doctor broke into the conversation once more. "We're off! C'mon, Kayla, let's go!" He bounded out of the room, motioning to Kayla as he went. She smiled at Tektran and Laurlyn before following him.

When they were gone, Laurlyn shot a mocking glare towards Tektran. "For shame, sir! What would The Council think of your affection to an offworlder?"

Tektran sighed. "You're right, of course. I need to focus…"

She gently laid a hand on his arm. "I was joking." She whispered.

He looked at her for a long time. "I can't help it." He said at last. "She was… perfect."

Laurlyn smiled. "The Council can't have an objection towards love."

"Oh, but they can." He replied with a sigh. "They have every objection. It's fine to love, just not in other species."

Laurlyn looked at him. "But humans are incredibly similar. There's only one difference."

"Yes… the skin color."

"Exactly. They can't object…"

"Don't." He whispered, pain in his voice. "I don't need false hope, Laurlyn."

Laurlyn sighed. "If you wish."

He looked at her. "Thank you. I know you were just trying to help."

She shrugged. "It's what I do."

He smiled. "I know."

He walked into the other room. There was only one thought on his mind.

Kayla's face. Her beautiful dark eyes. Her soft voice. Her perfect smile, with one flaw. A cut that added a darkness to the young girl, a darkness he could not understand.


	6. Hidden Halls

The town of Leketrain was a horrible place. Forever covered in a green sort of mist, it was the home for gangs and criminals. Criminals of the worst sort.

There were many people there, most of them drunk, yelling out the worst words they could think of at whatever they could see.

No civil person would be caught anywhere near Leketrain.

So it was a perfect surprise when a man in a suit walked down the streets, acting as though he owned the place. A young girl walked with him, but she was having a harder time being so confident, and she kept coming closer to him.

"Hey, baby!" One man started it, too drunk to realize what he was really doing. The others, with a laugh, began it as well, ignoring the man next to the girl. "Hey, baby!" "What's up, babe?" "Hey, sweetheart!" "What's new with you, beautiful?"

The woman shrunk in on herself, inching closer towards the man with her. He laid a protective hand on her shoulder, and glared at the men.

There was something in his eyes, something dark, dangerous. The men laughed it off for a moment, but it grew more and more nervous as the seconds wore on. Finally, they all shut up quickly, fearing this man with such a dark stare. One man was even scared sober, and never touched anything alcoholic for the rest of his life.

The man stopped glaring at them and kept walking, the woman following him, relieved that everyone had stopped staring at her.

"Doctor…?" She whispered quietly.

"Hmmm?"

"How much further is it?" Worry seeped into her face.

He smiled. "Not too far, don't worry."

She nodded slowly. There was something in HER eyes, too. But it was not darkness. It wasn't anger. It was pure fear.

* * *

_That one looks like Falcon. _Kayla thought with a shiver. _But what one doesn't?_

The men surrounding her were giving her the creeps. Of course, she was with The Doctor, so she was safe. But thinking of this helped nothing. Fear wasn't rational; she'd learned that a long time ago.

Her mind flittered back to Tektran, back on the other planet. Yet another one that she'd forgotten the name of. But he had kept looking at her, then blushing and turning away when she noticed. If you could call darkening skin blushing. That's what it looked like to her, anyway.

But… what if he was blushing… because he'd been caught looking? What if he'd actually looked because… maybe, just maybe, he thought… she was beautiful? No. No that couldn't be it.

Could it?

* * *

A few light years away, Tektran was sighing, his thoughts on a young girl with deep brown eyes and a cut on her lip.

He sighed, his eyes glazing over as he gazed into a distance that only he could see.

Finally, he decided. "Computer." He ordered. A slight bleeping noise answered him. "Search, Earth."

"Earth." The mechanical voice answered him. "Primary species, humans." The screen flashed with pictures and paragraphs.

Tektran looked at it for a long time. "Computer, calculate amount of time it would take to make an exploratory journey to the planet in a Class seven Starwatcher."

"Calculation: Four Earth days and twenty earth hours."

Tektran thought about this for a moment. "Computer, program course into the _Black Star. _Have it ready in ten Earth minutes."

A slight beep confirmed his order, and Tektran let out a sigh. He would not find Kayla there, he knew. But perhaps he would find the answers he needed.

He snorted. Answers to irrelevant questions! He needed to speak with HER again. Not visit some planet far away, on a crazy mission with nothing to gain!

But it was all he had. And he would take it.

* * *

"RELAK!" Torlo was fuming, irritation visible on his face.

His assistant came into the room, cringing. "Y-Yes sir?"

"ANOTHER ONE!" Torlo spat. "ANOTHER! How long, Relak? HOW LONG?"

"I-I-I don't know! I don't know!"

"THEN FIND OUT!"

"Find out what, exactly?" A new voice entered the conversation. Torlo whirled around to see a human man, standing in the other entrance, his arms crossed.

"Who are you?" Torlo demanded.

The man smiled disarmingly. "'Ello! I'm the Doctor. Sorry, I let myself in. Or, rather, my brilliant friend here did it." He smiled as a young girl came in, holding a small tube-like object with a blue tip. She pressed a button, and the object let out a small sound, if only briefly.

"I'm learning." She said with a shrug, handing the object to the man, who was still grinning like an idiot.

Torlo snarled. "You have no business here!" He spat.

"I have every business!" The man who called himself The Doctor replied, indignant. "If, perhaps, I needed your help hiding from the Jadoon…"

Torlo paled. Sweat poured down his face. "Oh, yes, sir. Of course."

The Doctor winked at his companion. "Never underestimate the power of the paying customer." He whispered to her, before sitting down at one of the chairs at Torlo's desk. Torlo sat as well, across from them.

He was suddenly all smiles, a nice man who could offer them a deal, a deal he believed they needed to take. "I take it you've done a few things wrong in your day…" he told the Doctor, a bright sparkle in his eye.

The Doctor gestured to the computer in front of Torlo. "Look for yourself."

Torlo nodded and typed in 'The Doctor.' It took less then three seconds. He whistled. "Well, sir. It seems you are really in need of our services. Eighteen counts of planetary demolition…!" He trailed off, unable to believe it.

"EIGHTEEN?" The woman demanded.

Torlo looked at her. "You were unaware of this fact…?"

She looked at him for a moment. "I… I thought it was seventeen." She replied, before punching The Doctor in the shoulder.

"OW!"

"You said you wouldn't do that again." She glared at him.

Unseen by Torlo, but definitely seen by Relak, The Doctor winked at his companion. "Kayla, I told you. I can't help it…" he looked genuinely hurt.

"Kayla…" Torlo mused. "And is it Mr. and Mrs., or…?"

"NO!" Kayla replied, too quickly. "No. He's… my baby brother."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. He turned to Torlo. "Can you give us a moment?"

He smiled and nodded. "Certainly."

The Doctor and Kayla walked to the other end of the room.

* * *

"Baby brother?" The Doctor demanded, his eyebrows raised, his voice seeping with indignation.

Kayla snorted. "What else was I supposed to say?"

"Anything but 'Baby.'" The Doctor cringed.

Kayla grinned. "Awww… Poor widdle dwoctor got his pwide hurt?" She teased.

He glared at her.

Kayla laughed. "Face it, Doctor. You're the most immature 904-year old I've met. It only works if you're younger than me."

"Baby brother!" The Doctor snorted. "I look YEARS older than you."

"Doctor, you look CENTURIES older than me." Kayla grinned.

The Doctor nodded. "Exactly!" Suddenly, he realized what she'd said. "Hey… Wait!"

But Kayla was already heading towards Torlo, a laugh stuck in her throat. "He's my baby brother." She told him.

The Doctor came up next to her, his lower lip jutting out. "Yeah, that's me." He said grudgingly.

Torlo smiled. "Excellent! Now, did you have a system in mind?"

The Doctor nodded, his earlier worries suddenly forgotten. "Yes. We were hoping for somewhere in the Inrartia system…?"

Torlo smiled. "A very popular choice. Very well." He tapped a few keys. "And… are you going to wish to change your appearance?"

"How could we not?" The Doctor said. "They've got so many wanted holograms around the city…" He whistled.

"Holograms?" Kayla whispered.

"Posters." He replied quickly, watching Torlo as he tapped a few more keys. "Wanted posters, just… futureistiky."

She grinned. "Oooh, I love technical terms." She chuckled.

The Doctor stuck his tongue out at her before turning back to Torlo.

Torlo politely ignored the exchange. "Now… I'm going to have to give you some…" his words broke off into a long, nonsensical snarl that Kayla couldn't understand, no matter how hard she tried.

"Vaccinations." The Doctor quickly translated. "Of sorts." He looked at Torlo. "That will be fine."

Torlo smiled. "Excellent! You can't be too careful anymore." He shook his head sadly.

The Doctor nodded sympathetically. "I know what you mean."

"Relak!" Torlo spat. His assistant was at his side in a second. "Give them the usual." He whispered quietly.

Relak nodded quickly.

Torlo smiled at the Doctor. "Setting up your…" His words trailed off in the snarl again.

The Doctor nodded. "Fine by me."

Relak took Kayla by the arm. "One at a time." He was gentle, careful, as though he thought she might break.

Kayla nodded at the Doctor, who was looking at her with concern written on his face. She could handle it. She wasn't totally defenseless.

Relak led her out of the room. He pulled out a small patch, and started soaking it in some sort of liquid.

"So… Relak. That's your name, right?" Kayla smiled, trying to seem brave, though she had no idea what was going on.

"Yes, ma'am." He replied. He leaned forward to place the patch on her arm. "Now, this won't hurt a bit…"

The patch, though she hadn't realized it, was covered in microscopic needles. Hardly noticeable, but they injected her with the strange liquid she'd seen.

Relak winced as he placed the patch on her arm, but it was so quick, Kayla thought she must have imagined it. "How long have you been working for the Hidden Halls?"

"Oh, I don't work for the company, ma'am. I work for Torlo."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I'm his… well, I guess… human terms would be… slave?" His eyebrows twisted, as though he was trying to figure out if that was the right word.

Kayla's eyes widened. "That can't be true."

"Why not?" Torlo's voice made Kayla jump. "Surely your planet still has them…?"

Kayla paled. "No, I'm afraid not."

The Doctor, who had come up next to Torlo, had a dark expression on his face. But he pushed it aside with a fake smile. "Ah, my poor sister is a little… um… delicate? She's not quite as accepting of these things."

Torlo smiled. "Of course, of course. Take your time, it will sink in."

There was something about that smile. Something that Kayla hated. Something that reminded her of Falcon. But that couldn't be true. She loved Falcon, with everything she was. And Torlo was nothing like him.

So, like all thoughts she had that she didn't like or understand, she pushed it aside.

* * *

"You're not really leaving, are you?" Laurlyn asked.

Tektran sighed. "I'm afraid I must, Laurlyn."

She came up next to him. "Sir, I'm sorry. But… despite everything I said… I can't let you see this girl again. She has secrets, sir. Secrets that are best hidden." Real fear filled the telepath's eyes.

"What kind of secrets?" Tektran asked warily.

"I can't tell you. I just… can't."

He looked at her. "I have to go. I'll be back in a few days, I promise."

She looked back at him for a long time. Finally, she sighed and nodded.

He entered the ship, and a few seconds later, it took off.

Laurlyn's eyes were dark as she gazed up at the sky after the ship.

"Remember, Kayla. I lied to The Doctor. For you. I know your secrets, human. The ones you keep from yourself. I know about Falcon. But this is your battle, your war."

Then she sighed, realizing she was talking only to herself.


	7. Poison

**A/N: Sorry for not clearing this up, but this is during the specials, after the season four finale. Thanks!**

"Doctor! In here!"

The Doctor came up next to Kayla. "Well. For two people trying to get inside a company to shut it down, we did remarkably well." He grinned.

Kayla smiled. "Yes. Yes we did."

Torlo and Relak had led Kayla and The Doctor into two separate rooms for the night, connected by a door.

She sighed. "Listen, I have to call Falcon before I go to sleep. You know. Catch him up." She grinned.

He smiled back. "Sure. I'll just… leave you to it."

He left and closed the door behind him.

Kayla smiled as she dialed the number, wondering why she had been so scared before. Maybe she could come home after this business with the Hidden Halls was over.

The phone rang twice before someone answered. "Hello?"

"Falcon? It's me. Kayla."

"Kay! Oh, sweetheart, I was so worried!"

"Why?"

"You… you left, babe! You left after we had that fight and I…" He chocked off a sob. "Kayla, I'm so sorry! Please, I never meant to hurt you…"

Her eyes widened. She'd almost forgotten about what had happened the last time she was with him. Funny how things seemed to vital one moment and so trivial the next.

"It's ok." She replied. "I'm fine."

But her eyes caught sight of the small bruise on her wrist. She covered it up quickly, hiding it from herself as much as from anyone else.

"Oh, babe, I'm so sorry. Can you come home? We'll… we'll talk."

She smiled. "Yeah. Sure. When I can, all right?"

"That would be great, babe! I'll see you then?"

"Yeah. Call you tomorrow, ok?"

"Sure, sure. Love ya, babe."

"Love you too."

She hung up.

It was weird, how easily her emotions flowed from fear to love for Falcon. But he'd apologized! Surely that meant he was truly sorry? He'd never hurt her again.

Right?

* * *

Tektran marveled at the snow around him. Earth really was a beautiful place.

It fell slowly, dancing around him, swirling in the wind.

But he couldn't enjoy it. Because there was one thing he wanted here, one thing that couldn't be here.

He sighed and sat down in the snow, not caring about the cold.

He looked around. It was night time, at least on Earth. Tektran figured it was probably noon back home, because he wasn't even slightly tired.

He heard something groan softly. His eyes darted around, searching the dark snow.

Then he saw something he hadn't noticed before. There, on the ground, half-covered in snow, was a bump. It moved slightly, and Tektran realized with some horror and shock that it was a person.

Immediately, he ran over to it. Being of royalty never stopped him from helping someone when they needed it.

He carefully rolled the person over to see her face. It was a scene that would forever haunt him in his darkest nightmares. Her lips were blue, and her skin pale. Blood was pouring down her arm, and she had a horrible bruise on her shoulder. She wasn't dressed properly for this weather; wearing a tank top and a pair of jeans. A soft groan escaped her lips.

But Tektran would have recognized that face anywhere. It was the face that had brought him light years away from his home, had brought him to Earth in the first place. It was a beautiful face, with black, narrow-framed glasses hiding deep brown eyes which were now closed.

It was Kayla's face.

He didn't know why he did what he did. Obviously, as she was traveling with The Doctor, she would be familiar with alien technology, so it was safe, but it was still irrational. But he didn't care.

He lifted her into his arms and carried her into his ship.

* * *

Tektran found The Doctor an hour later. He'd been searching for Kayla, and Tektran brought him inside his ship to make sure he knew she was ok.

"I had some nanogenes repair some of the damage." He explained as the Doctor looked at Kayla's unconscious body with dark and furious eyes. "But she needs rest."

The Doctor nodded and sat down next to Kayla's limp form. Tektran sat next to him.

"Do you know what happened?" Tektran asked gently.

"No." The Doctor's voice was as cold as ice. "If only I did…"

Tektran looked at The Doctor, and realized with surprise that there were tears falling down the Time Lord's cheeks.

"She won't _tell _me." He whispered as he turned to Tektran. "She knows what's happening. If only… if only she'd _tell me_, I could _help _her."

Tektran swallowed. "You really care about her, don't you?"

The Doctor nodded. "We've been friends for a long time, Tektran. I care about my friends. I _don't _let them get hurt."

There was something dark about the Doctor's eyes. Something horrible. Something brought forth from nightmares. Tektran knew what he was feeling. He was furious as well.

Kayla gasped in her sleep. "N-No…" She whispered softly.

It was too much for The Doctor. He stormed out of the ship, walking out into the snow.

"What is happening to her?" he demanded of the sky. "Why can't I help her? Why can't I save her? _What's happening to her?"_

Tektran came behind the Time Lord and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She'll tell you when she's ready."

The Doctor whirled to face him. "But it's staring me in the face! I can save her, Tektran! I know I can! I just… just…" He looked down, unable to say any more.

"She'll tell you when she's ready." Tektran repeated.

"That's the point, Tektran. That's exactly the point. Who's to say she'll _survive _that long?"

* * *

"So. When are we going to find Claire's dad?" Kayla asked The Doctor.

"Tomorrow." He replied simply.

Kayla smiled. Good. She'd been thinking about something for a long time, and now she'd have the whole night to act on it.

She yawned, pretending to be tired. "Good. I'm exhausted. Oh, and look. A _real _bed. Not one of those lumpy mattress things you have in the TARDIS."

"Oi! The TARDIS has a good bed somewhere. If you're too lazy to find it, that's your problem, not mine!"

She grinned. "That's not lazy, Doctor. If I went looking for something in _your _TARDIS, I'd never come out!"

He rolled his eyes and flicked out her light. "Good night, Kayla."

She smiled in the darkness and placed her head on the pillow.

A few minutes later, she got up and tip-toed out of the room.

* * *

"Hi, Relak."

Relak jumped ten feet into the air and swore as he came down.

Kayla grinned behind him. "Sorry."

He brushed it off. "It's fine. What do you need, ma'am?"

She smiled. "Oh, _I _don't need anything. I'm more worried about you."

"Me, ma'am?"

"Yes, you. Relak, why do you work for a dweeb like Torlo? The Doctor hacked into the security cameras. I saw how he just gets mad at you and smacks you across the room. You're not even a slave; you're a personal punching bag."

He shrugged. "There's no other purpose for me."

Kayla swallowed and fought the pit in her stomach. _Is that all I am for Falcon?_ Her previous thoughts about her love for her boyfriend had all but vanished. She brushed it aside, but her hands were still shaking.

"I'm not saying this _will _happen, but… if Hidden Halls went down the tubes, would you really stay with Torlo while it died?"

Relak shrugged. "I don't have a choice, ma'am."

Kayla didn't want to ask the question. She _needed _to. "Relak, if Torlo threatened to kill you, what would you do?"

Relak smiled ruefully. "If, ma'am? There is no _if."_

Kayla shivered. "Relak, how can you just let that happen? _How?_"

Relak looked into her eyes for a long time. Silence stretched on, becoming more uncomfortable with each passing second. Finally, he spoke again, his words whisper-soft and ice cold.

"You act like this is a new concept, Child of Earth. But you yourself are a slave." He placed a hand on hers. "And one slave knows another."

A shiver traveled down Kayla's spine. "I'm perfectly free."

He looked at her. "Do you truly believe that?"

Kayla found that she couldn't reply honestly.

His eyes suddenly became urgent. "Kayla, I'm not supposed to say this. But you have to get out. You have to run and hide and hope Torlo never finds you." A single tear streaked down his face. "Hidden Halls _is _dying. And you shall all die with it."

"What do you mean?"

But Relak never finished his statement. His mouth opened in shock, and he looked down.

Blood was pouring from his chest.

He collapsed to the ground. Behind him, Torlo was smiling darkly, a gun in his hand, the same gun that had been used to shoot his slave in the back.

"And _that_, my dear human, is what _we _do with _traitors_." He said as he placed the gun back in his pocket.

Kayla stared at him with wide eyes.

"Go on." He smiled darkly. "Run to your Doctor."

Kayla walked slowly out of the room, pausing over Relak's body. Slowly, carefully, she knelt down next to it.

"What are you _doing?_" Torlo hissed.

But Kayla ignored him as she carefully placed her fingers over Relak's eyes, bringing down his eyelids.

She stood up and walked over to Torlo.

"You will pay for what you've done." She told him. Her words were calm, her eyes hard. "Remember."

And, head held high, she left the room.

* * *

Once inside her room, Kayla broke down crying.

She wondered why Torlo had let her go. She'd just seen him murder someone for crying out loud!

But… Relak was a slave. The vague things she knew about slaves, like in Ancient Roman times (The Doctor had once tried to take her there, but they'd ended up in the year 6890 instead), indicated that it wasn't technically murder to kill your slave, because they weren't technically people.

Somehow, that just made it worse.

When she'd finally pulled herself together, she walked to the door joining her room to the Doctor's. She opened it slowly.

"Doctor?"

"Hmm…?"

She flicked on the lights. The Doctor squinted as the switch from the darkness assaulted his eyes. "Ouch, Kay. A little warning next time."

He looked at her, and knew instantly that something was wrong. He was at her side in a spilt-second. "Are you ok?"

She shook her head, chocking back another sob. "Relak's dead."

His eyes darkened. "Tell me what happened."

* * *

"Murder doesn't really put people on my good list."

The Doctor was sitting down, completely at ease with this criminal. It somehow unnerved Torlo more than he could explain.

"Of course not." Torlo laughed. "You really think I would believe that _you _were running from the Jadoon?"

"Well, yeah. I sort of, kind of… _am._"

Torlo laughed again. "Not for planetary demolition, methinks."

"True. Because I ran away from the Shadow Proclamation." He frowned. "They're not really happy with me."

Torlo smiled. "Yes, the infamous Doctor, traveling the stars in his TARDIS. Oh, you're far from human. I knew that the instant I saw you."

The Doctor came up next to him. "But you said nothing."

Torlo shook his head. "No."

"Why not?"

Torlo's smile was dark. "You'll see, Time Lord. You will see."

He discreetly pressed a button, but The Doctor's sharp eyes caught the movement. He stepped forward to stop him. "What are you doing…?"

But it was too late. The button had been pressed.

In the other room, Kayla screamed.

The Doctor cried out in pain, dropping to his knees and clutching his arm, where a burning pain was starting to spread through him.

Torlo's smile widened as he pulled out his gun. "Toxins, my dear fellow. Injected in your system as a sort of… vaccination, I believe the word was? That was what you told your friend, wasn't it?"

The Doctor glared at him, but the burn was beginning to spread to his chest.

"Now, it's enough to kill most species, including humans. Not Time Lords, I'm afraid, but it _is _enough to stun you temporarily. Long enough for me, at any rate."

He smiled and brought the gun to The Doctor's head. "Goodbye, Doctor."

And he fired once.


	8. Failure

Kayla had been poisoned more than once during her adventures with The Doctor. Nothing that hurt _this badly, _but still.

So she recognized the burning pain that swept from her arm and into her body.

She screamed at the unexpected rush of pain, dropping to the floor, clutching her arm.

She swore a few times as the burn flashed across her in waves. But there was only one thing on her mind.

_The Doctor. _

She stood with much difficulty and began stumbling into the other room.

She leaned against the wall just outside the door where the Doctor had entered just minutes before. She briefly wondered how much time she had left. One minute? Two? Surely walking around wasn't helping, as her heart worked to pump the poison through her veins.

She clenched her teeth and entered the room, unnoticed.

"That's what you told your friend, isn't it?" Torlo was saying.

The Doctor glared at him. He was on his knees, clutching his arm.

"Now, it's enough to kill most species, including humans." Torlo continued. "Not Time Lords, I'm afraid, but it _is _enough to stun you temporarily. Long enough for me, at any rate."

Kayla had seen the gun in his hands. Her eyes narrowed. She'd already seen that gun kill someone today; she would not witness it again.

That weapon had caused its last murder.

Torlo smiled and brought the gun to The Doctor's head as Kayla looked for something heavy enough to do the job. "Goodbye, Doctor."

As his finger tightened on the trigger, a small metal ball flew towards the weapon. Torlo managed one shot, but his aim went sideways as the metal object crashed into his hand.

Torlo swore and clutched his hand, the gun now a crumpled heap on the ground.

"I _don't _like _guns!_" Kayla snarled at the other end of the room.

The Doctor sighed in relief. "Kayla!"

She nodded, and collapsed to the ground.

The Doctor took a deep breath. The poison only managed to stun him for a few seconds. With some difficulty, he stood and walked over to Kayla, ignoring Torlo, who was clutching his hand and swearing in fifteen different languages.

The Doctor smiled as he saw what Kayla had thrown at him. It was a part of an escape pod's guidance system, though she could not know that. Torlo had been smarter than he'd seemed. His entire office was a miniature spaceship.

But he didn't care about that now. "Kayla? Kayla, can you hear me?"

Kayla gurgled something that The Doctor couldn't understand. She coughed, and blood stained her lips.

"Doctor…" she whispered. Her eyes were glazed. She was pale and covered in sweat. Dark circles ringed her eyes. She was shaking, a horrible expression on her face. She looked like death itself.

"Hold on." The Doctor whispered. "Just hold on."

Torlo grinned wildly. "You have a choice, Doctor!"

The Doctor stood to face the criminal.

"You can save Kayla. You can stop me. Or, you can save everyone else. Every person out there who came to me for help was injected with that toxin. Every single person they replaced was as well. And you can save them." He laughed, an insane, hysterical laugh. "You may be able to save her as well, but probably not. And there's no way you'll be able to stop me from leaving. The poison is doing its work; you wouldn't have enough time."

The Doctor looked at him. "You just made a grave mistake, Torlo."

"Oh? And what's that?"

His eyes locked on Torlo's. "You gave me a choice. An 'offer I can't refuse.' So I'm going to give you an answer I once gave to a Dalek fleet." He took a step towards the criminal. "_No._"

It all happened so fast. The Doctor's sonic screwdriver was in his hand in a split-second, buzzing like crazy.

Then the light burst from the ceiling.

"Nanogenes!" The Doctor cried. "Useful on so many levels!"

The light drifted down in the whole building. Staff and criminal alike felt them heal the burning pain, stop the poison in its tracks.

The Doctor tapped a few keys on the computer at the same time. The cryogenic pods opened, releasing those who had been 'replaced.' The nanogenes went to work on these new patients with no problem.

Torlo raced to the door, jumping over Kayla's limp form as he did so.

Her hand darted out and gripped his ankle. He fell in a very undignified heap to the ground. She was still pale, but strength was returning to her eyes.

"For Relak." She whispered, slamming a hand in between his eyes. He was out before it left his face.

She collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

But The Doctor wasn't done yet. Through thousands of galaxies, criminals like the one who had replaced Claire's family were dying as the poison entered their system. The Doctor tapped a few more keys, and eventually just pounded on the console with a fist.

He sighed with relief as the screen changed. He smiled. "How was _that?_" he asked, turning to Kayla.

Her eyes had glazed over. Blood trickled out of her lip.

And she wasn't breathing.

"Kayla!" The Doctor raced to her side, panic flashing in his eyes. Kayla was the closest (save The Doctor) to the signal that had released the poison in the first place. Naturally, she would have more in her system.

The Doctor started to panic slightly. "Kayla! _Kayla!_"

* * *

_Doesn't this just beat all. I survive the attack on Relta 18, outrun a Norkal on Ekttan, and _die _because of a stupid vial of poison!_

_Where am I, anyway? Ew, something smells bad. Ooh, what's that? Light! Oh, wait. I'm not supposed to go to the light. But it's so pretty…_

_No. Stay away from the light. Not my time yet. _

_But… what if I'm dead? Is this it? Did I run away from all those creatures, run away from _Falcon, _just to die here? _

_I wonder if The Doctor will take my body home. Maybe. Probably. No duh. He's not an idiot; he knows what to do._

_Oh, no! This can't happen! I can't die, not yet! Tracy still needs to find out about Falcon! She hasn't yet! I have to know what happened to her…_

_Oh, what's the use? Pretty light… I don't want to stay here forever, after all. _

_Note to self: avoid the light at the end of the tunnel like the plague._

_But… I can't stay here… it's too dark. What if I never come back home? What if I'm _stuck _here?_

_Oh, Doctor, I'm so sorry. I have to go. I can't wait any longer…_

* * *

Kayla gasped, her eyes snapping open.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. "Kayla!" he wrapped his arms around her, squeezing the breath out of her.

"Ow." She whispered.

He let go quickly.

She looked at his face, a small smile creeping across her lips. "Were you crying?"

The Doctor rubbed his eyes, trying to clear away the small damp spots. "Yes."

She grinned. "Why?"

He sighed. "I thought you'd died." He whispered softly.

She smiled and hugged him, starting to feel better slowly. "But I didn't."

He grinned. "Yeah. You didn't."

She looked around at the little golden objects surrounding her. "I take it this was what healed me."

The Doctor nodded. "Nanogenes."

She smiled. "They're beautiful."

The Doctor stood and helped her to her feet. "Well, that was fun. Let's not do it again."

Kayla grinned. But her smile disappeared as she remembered something. "What about Claire?"

But the Doctor kept smiling. "She's still in the TARDIS. We'll get her out and find her dad."

* * *

Kayla didn't see the reunion.

She had wanted to; so desperately badly. She wanted to see this little girl reunited with her father. She wanted her to know that the man who had been so cruel, had been so _angry, _was nothing but a poor copy.

She wanted to see Claire realize that her father could never do that to her. Could never try and hurt her. That it was all that shape-shifting alien's fault. That her father was innocent.

But she didn't.

She heard the squeals of laughter, the happy shrieks as the families were reunited. But she'd disappeared into the shadows quickly. She'd gone alone; this was one of the Doctor's favorite parts. Seeing the families so happy, seeing them together again.

Besides, it was easier, sometimes, to do it alone.

She ran quickly down the hallways, dodging past alien staff of the Hidden Halls; The Doctor would deal with them later.

She was much more concerned about a slave. One she barely knew. One she saw murdered before her very eyes.

She kept running. There was a chance…

She stopped cold as she ran into the room. There was still blood on the floor. The crimson liquid mocked her. _You're too late. _It seemed to be saying. _He's gone, and there's _nothing _you can do to change that._

She ignored it, though the very sight had torn at her heart. Yes, there was blood. There was so much blood.

But there was no body.

Relak wasn't _there._

She started running again. It was a while before she found Torlo's escape pod-turned-office. Torlo was there, his hands cuffed in some strange, silvery, glowing metal that seemed to contort and move with his motions. He wasn't facing her; he was sitting in a chair and looking at the monitor.

He was watching his company crumble to dust, his last chances and dreams shatter like glass.

"Torlo."

He jumped and stood, whirling around to face her. He glared at her. "What do _you _want?" he snarled.

She raised an eyebrow. "Where's Relak?"

Torlo just stared at her for a moment. Realization slowly came to his face, making it light up with a hateful glow.

"Ah, yes." He smirked. "'One slave knows another', correct?"

Kayla thought about punching him. She really did.

But she refused to stoop to his level.

"Where is Relak?" She repeated.

Torlo laughed, an annoyingly triumphant laugh. "_Gone!_ His body was jettisoned into space before the nanogenes were released! He's _dead, _Kayla! _You failed!_"

Then again, sometimes you _really _needed to punch someone like that.

Kayla kept her fist at her side, though it was becoming increasingly difficult.

"How about that?" Torlo sneered. "_How about that? _The great _Doctor _and his precious _companion __**FAILED! **__I _WON! You understand that? _**I WON!**_**" **He laughed. It rang in Kayla's ears, blazing through her mind until…

The dull _thunk! _Rang through the air for along time after Torlo's unconscious form dropped to the floor. A man stood above him, his eyes blazing with hate.

"That's for taking me away from my daughter." He growled.

Next to him, Claire beamed. She hugged him, and Kayla instantly guessed who he was.

She smiled at him. "Thank you. You have no idea how _badly _I wanted to do that."

He smiled back and extended a hand. "Well, you should have. A whole lot sooner, too."

Kayla took it. "I'm Kayla, by the way."

"Blake."

"Claire's father?"

He nodded. "And I'm sure I'm not the only one who wanted a piece of this man." He kicked Torlo's limp form. "If he can be called that. Your 'Doctor' friend had better get him out of here and in prison soon. He'll be safer in there." He grinned viciously.

* * *

Kayla and The Doctor would have spent a lot of time cleaning up the mess if it hadn't been for the Jadoon.

But, as it turned out, the Jadoon weren't really happy with The Doctor, so he and Kayla had to get out of there very quickly.

As they ran into the TARDIS, Kayla waved good-bye to Claire. The little girl waved back as the doors swung closed.

"Right!" The Doctor was bounding around the center console again. "Where to next?"

Kayla thought for a moment. "Could we… you know… maybe… find Relak's body?"

The Doctor's eyes lifted to her face. For a moment, they just looked at each other. Kayla felt that he completely understood what was going on in her mind.

He smiled very softly at her. "Of course."

He pulled a lever, and the TARDIS lurched into life.

* * *

The body was in something that looked like a coffin. The Doctor explained that it was jettisoned to make sure that no diseases were spread through the ship. It would be hard to travel through thousands of light-years with a dead body aboard.

If only they'd waited a little longer. Then maybe, this particular body wouldn't _be _dead.

She looked at his pale face.

"We'll get him to his home planet." The Doctor told her with a sad smile. "Get him to his family. Have them give him a proper burial."

Kayla tried to smile back. "He'd like that."

* * *

The family hadn't been too happy to see them, carrying the body of their dead relative. They had to leave quickly after bringing Relak back. But Kayla felt somehow, inexplicably better.

Relak was home.

Now, it was her turn.

"Doctor?" She asked as the Time Lord began running around the TARDIS once more.

"Hmm…?"

"Can we pop by my time? I'm… really kind of missing Falcon. And I promised him I'd stop by…"

The Doctor sighed in mock-exasperation. "Really. You weren't trying to get home this much _before _you knew this Freddie guy."

"Falcon." She corrected. "_Please?_"

He smiled. "All right. Just for a few minutes, though, ok?"

Kayla nodded. "No problem."

The TARDIS groaned into life, traveling through the vortex until it found the one place its driver was looking for…

The TARDIS landed at last, almost throwing Kayla off her feet. She laughed and headed for the door. "I won't be too long!"

"You'd better not be. The TARDIS is on a _very _tight schedule."

Kayla laughed again and bounded out. She shivered; it was freezing out here. Snow gently fell to the earth, the wind making the flakes swirl around her.

Kayla hurriedly ran inside the house that had become her home. By the time she made it, she was soaked. She sighed and pulled off her long-sleeved shirt, revealing not only the black tank top underneath, but also the many yellow and purple bruises.

She touched them softly and winced. That wasn't too great.

"Why did you _leave, _Kay?"

The voice was loud and accusing. Kayla jumped and whirled around to find Falcon standing in the doorway, his eyes dark and his features set in a hard glare.

"Hey, babe!" She smiled, oblivious to the anger in his eyes. Or maybe she just didn't _want _to see it. "I told you I'd be back soon, didn't I? Well, here I am!" She walked over to her boyfriend and hugged him. He hugged her gently back, somehow distant.

She looked at him. "Something wrong?"

He looked her in the eye. "I told you not to leave, Kayla. I told you that I wanted to talk to you about this 'Doctor John Smith.'" He glowered at her. "And you _left._"

Kayla looked at him, confused. He'd been all right with it when he'd called her earlier. He'd wondered if she was ok, said he was sorry.

So why was he bringing this up again?

"Why did you _LEAVE?_" His voice started to rise.

"I…I…" Kayla stammered, taken off guard.

Falcon's features twisted with an unimaginable hate, and his hand flew across the distance from itself to her face. Kayla recoiled in pain as her ears began to ring from the blow. She looked at him in shock.

"WHY DID YOU LEAVE?" He demanded again, his hand coming down again. Kayla cringed as she waited for the blow to strike…

She wasn't disappointed. She felt his fist crack against her shoulder, and then again in her stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

He grabbed her shoulders and held her against the floor. "Why did you leave, babe?" his voice was so soft, so deadly, so very lethal. "Why did you leave me? Was it for that… _Doctor?_"

"Babe… no…"

He slapped her. Kayla winced; it was probably best if she didn't speak. After all, talking so much had gotten her into this mess; it was _her _fault he was so angry, it had to be…

But why? Why did he hate her so suddenly, when he'd been perfectly all right with what happened?

It dawned on her suddenly, and Kayla started to shake. That was the problem with time travel; things got mixed up.

The earlier fight she'd had with Falcon wasn't the one he'd been talking about. He hadn't been asking if she was ok because of some simple little blows and a 'minor argument.'

She realized why he'd sounded so worried. He wanted to know if he'd killed her, if the damage he'd caused was really beyond repair.

Because _this _was the fight he'd been talking about.

Falcon hadn't made that phone call yet. It was in his future, even if it was in her past.

The worst was yet to come.

"_**WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?**_" he was back to the yelling. His hand lashed against her face…

Kayla struggled and kicked. Her hand flew out and hit his jaw, and she rolled out from under him.

She didn't think. She just started to run.

He caught up to her quickly, pulling her back in just as the door was about to close…

"NO!" She cried. It was a final, desperate plea. She wanted to get out of here, to get to the TARDIS, to get back to the stars.

She wanted to get away from this monster.

She lashed out again, landing a kick in his leg. He cried out, and Kayla ran once more.

She raced out into the white snow. The snow that was falling much more heavily now.

She had to get away. She just had to get away.

The world around her was white as she ran. The snow that had been so beautiful now was a thick, heavy, oppressive cloud. It kept her eyes away from the dark blue of the TARDIS, kept her from safety…

She kept running. If it kept her from the TARDIS, then maybe it could keep Falcon away from her.

But, already, she felt almost sorry for her boyfriend. He'd feel so badly about this later; she knew that much. He'd called her, after all, called and told her how sorry he was.

She just had to make sure he knew that she forgave him.

She kept running through the wall of white, towards something that looked faintly blue. It was the closest thing to the TARDIS she could see.

She didn't know how long she'd been out here, but she knew she had to get inside soon. The cold was surrounding her, tightening across her chest as she ran. Her legs were slowing down, her fingers and toes felt numb. She shivered violently. She was probably bleeding heavily, and covered in more bruises than before.

Poor Falcon. He'd feel so bad…

She stumbled to the ground, not too far away from the blue object she'd thought was the TARDIS.

Well, it was blue, or very faintly blue. But it wasn't a box. It wasn't really an 'it', either.

She couldn't stop the groan that escaped from her lips. Everything just _hurt, _so very badly.

She heard the snow crunch ahead of her as the blue object she'd seen earlier turned around. She tried to get up, but all she succeeded in was a pitiful twitching that barely moved the snow partially off of her.

A man came over to her, the man that she'd mistaken for the TARDIS. She'd mistaken him for that blue box because of the dark blue tints in his skin. She felt his body heat as he stood next to her.

His breath caught in his throat as he turned her over. Kayla kept her eyes shut, she could barely open them.

There was hardly a pause before he swept her into his arms and started to carry her away. Kayla allowed herself to fall asleep, the memory of King Tektran of Reltakia IV's face, looking down at her with so much concern and pain, drifting through her mind.


	9. Shadow

**A/N: Sorry for the late update; I've had writer's block. **

_Poor Falcon. He'd feel so bad…_

Laurlyn listened to the human's thoughts, her stomach twisting. Kayla had convinced herself, over all this time, that she really loved this man, this 'Falcon'. The man who hurt her, again and again.

"It's sick." Laurlyn whispered to herself, emotion clogging up her throat. "It's just _sick._"

It _was _sick. It was so wrong, so horribly wrong.

As Tektran lifted Kayla into his arms, the telepath watched them both carefully. She was only here to observe, to make sure that Kayla made it out of here alive. But she could do no more.

This fact tore at her heart. She wanted to tell the Doctor, wanted to see Falcon pay for his crimes. Pay for his lies. Pay for what he'd done to that simple, sweet girl who had trusted him so much…

Laurlyn wiped the tears off of her face.

It was so _wrong. _

* * *

Kayla blinked slowly. Her head was pounding.

She started to sit up, sending waves of nausea through her. She closed her eyes and swallowed, trying to keep herself from feeling too horrible, trying to pull herself together…

An arm wrapped around her shoulder, holding her steady. "It's all right. You're safe; you're fine…"

The voice was soft, as though Kayla was so fragile, so incredibly delicate. It was a male's voice, one that Kayla recognized, but couldn't quite place where from.

"Doctor!" The strange, familiar voice called, still in a whisper. "She's awake!"

Kayla heard something fall, and then heard the sound of feet pounding against the floor as someone ran to her side. A hand gripped hers tightly. "Kayla?"

Kayla breathed a sigh of relief. It was the Doctor's voice. He sounded so scared…

"I'm ok." She tried to reassure him. She gently squeezed his hand, still clutching hers.

"You scared me to death!" He whispered.

Kayla slowly tried to open her eyes. She squinted against the sudden surge of light. Slowly, her eyes began to adjust, and she was able to see the Doctor, smiling softly at her.

"Can you stand?" A gentle voice next to her asked. Kayla suddenly remembered where she knew that voice from.

She turned to face King Tektran, shivering slightly. His arm tightened on her shoulders. She nodded. "I think so."

Slowly, carefully, with Tektran's help, Kayla got to her feet. The Doctor kept his hand in hers. It was obvious that he didn't like being unnecessary, as he was while Tektran was there.

"Think that you can make it to the TARDIS?" The Doctor asked. "It's not too far; I brought her a bit closer."

She nodded weakly. "I…I think so."

Tektran helped her outside. The snowflakes brushed against her skin, making her shiver. The Doctor immediately removed his coat and placed it on her shoulders. Worry filled his deep brown eyes.

He walked ahead of them and opened the TARDIS for them. Tektran helped Kayla onto the bench, where she collapsed, exhausted from even this brief episode of consciousness.

"She needs rest." Tektran whispered as she fell asleep once more.

The Doctor nodded. "Thank you, Tektran. If you hadn't found her…" He shivered, unable to continue.

For a moment, the two stood in silence, watching Kayla on the bench, the Doctor's coat wrapped around her. She looked so calm; as though nothing in the world could touch her.

"I'm going to find the person that did this." The Doctor's eyes were dark, glittering with fury. "And they're going to _pay._"

Tektran placed a hand on The Doctor's shoulder. "You are not the only one who wants that."

* * *

He ran.

He couldn't stop running. His heart was pounding in his chest, his lungs screaming for the air he could not give them. A sharp, brutal pain was stabbing his side. Each step made it harder and harder to move his legs.

But he kept going. He couldn't stop. To stop would be to condemn himself to death.

Beneath his feet, the grass died in his footprints. His nose began to bleed, and he wiped away the crimson with one hand as he pushed his legs harder.

But how do you outrun something that's everywhere?

The grass beneath his feet delicately tried to cling to his legs, but it broke with his momentum as he ran. And then it tried harder, no longer quite so delicate.

The plants whipped out at him, curling around his feet, making it harder and harder for him to move.

And then impossible.

The greenery had crept up to his legs, weaving around them in intricate patterns that held him still.

He chocked. "No!"

He started to sob as the plants wove themselves tightly around him. "Pl-Please!"

The shadow appeared in front of him, and absolute terror gripped his heart. It pounded loudly in his ears, and he wondered why it didn't just stop.

The shadow reached forward with one clawed hand. The man whimpered.

"Don't do this." He begged. "Please, please. I don't want to die!"

The shadow's head tilted to the side.

_Why do you fear?_

Its whispered words in his mind were curious, as though it couldn't possibly understand the nature of fear; not only his fear, but the actual emotion itself.

He looked up at it pleadingly, yet incredulously at the same time. His words were garbled and breathy, somewhat hysterical. "Why? Why else! Humans are afraid of death!"

The shadow's head tilted even further. _But you are not dying._

"No!" The man laughed, his sanity beginning to fade, no longer willing to see life as it was. "No! It's _worse_."

_You came here first. You changed us. You made this. Why are you so reluctant to accept _your own _changes?_

"Because we didn't know!" The sobbing was back. "Please. We can change this."

_There has been too much change. No more. No more from your kind; we don't want it. We don't need it._

The hand placed itself on his head, and the darkness enveloped him.

* * *

Keeran began to pace, chewing on his nails nervously.

"He should be here. He should have come back."

Lea rolled her eyes. "Relax. He'll be here." She closed her eyes and placed her head against the wall.

"But he should _be here!_"

The door banged open.

Keeran breathed out a sigh of relief. A tall shadow stood in the doorway, the light not strong enough to show his features. "You took your time getting here, Dreyson. We were starting to get worried."

Lea snorted. "_I _wasn't."

Keeran blew it off. "Come on. Let's get this stuff unpacked."

He turned around to the crates, ripping one open and rummaging through the contents.

The shadow tilted its head curiously.

Keeran turned back to him. "Come _on, _Dreyson. Are you just going to stand there all day?"

The shadow came into the light.

Keeran and Lea stumbled backwards. Keeran swore.

"No… no, it's impossible…!" he exclaimed.

Darkness swirled around them, and the figure that had previously been black in their vision turned red as all else became shadow.

Lea stumbled out of the door, into the bright light. She began to sob as Keeran's screams reached her ears.

But she could do nothing to save him. She pulled herself to her feet and started to run.

* * *

Tears were streaming down Kayla's face as she threw her fists wildly into the air. "No, no, please, _no!_"

Tektran watched her, fighting invisible enemies in her sleep. She was pleading with someone, begging them, trying to get away.

Tektran lifted her off the bench and cradled her against his chest, sitting down where she had previously been laying. He stroked her hair back, whispering empty words and hollow promises.

"Please wake up." He asked her. "Please, just wake up. It'll be all right if you just _wake up…_"

She let out a long, drawn out moan, sobbing into Tektran's arms.

He looked worriedly at her. "Doctor…"

"I see it." The Doctor said. His eyes were tight, his expression hard. He was angry; but he didn't know what to be angry _at. _"She has nightmares all the time, Tektran."

"What about?"

"She won't tell me."

Tektran swallowed. He gently stroked Kayla's cheek.

And then the TARDIS lurched out of control.

The Doctor leapt to the center console, stabbing at buttons. "What are you doing?" He demanded.

Tektran hurriedly stood, making sure not to disturb Kayla as he did so. He placed her back on the bench and walked to the Doctor's side. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know!" The Doctor kicked the console for good measure, then sunk to the ground, looking exhausted.

"Hey… guys? What's up?"

Tektran and The Doctor whirled around to see Kayla, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. The TARDIS jolted again, and Kayla rolled with the movement, using it to help her to her feet.

"What's wrong?" She asked, instantly on alert.

"Are you all right?" Tektran asked at the same time.

She blew it off. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. But what's happening?"

"The TARDIS is doing something… wacko." The Doctor explained as the time machine gave another stomach-wrenching tilt. He rolled backwards on the floor. "WOAH!"

Kayla giggled and gripped his hand, yanking him upright. "Fix it, maybe?" She asked.

The Doctor nodded once, turning to the console.

Kayla shot an apologetic grin towards Tektran. "Sorry. The TARDIS does this sometimes." She thought for a moment, then seemed to realize that he wasn't meant to be here. "Hey, what happened? Why are you…?"

"Here?" Tektran completed for her. He smiled weakly as the TARDIS made a sickening zigzag motion. "I…ah… saw you… in the snow. You looked… well, you looked pretty bad, so I… I fixed up a couple of the worst marks…" His smile wavered as he spoke, his blue tints darkening in embarrassment.

Kayla raised her eyebrows, but didn't get a chance to respond before the TARDIS landed, throwing them all to the ground as she tilted almost completely sideways.

The Doctor, as usual, was the first on his feet. He shook his head dizzily. "Ok… um… _ow._"

Kayla stood up, helping Tektran regain his balance. "What happened?"

The Doctor looked at the scanner. He frowned. "Ooh. Icky."

"What? What is it?"

"Very icky."

Kayla grinned as she came up next to him. "Icky?"

"Super icky."

"Wow. That's icky."

"You have no idea."

"So tell me."

The Doctor let out a low, drawn-out whistle. He clicked his tongue, then announced. "Icky."

"Ah." Kayla said, as though he'd explained everything.

"I'm sorry…" Tektran said, looking bewildered. "_What?_"

The Doctor clicked his tongue again, then turned to face the two of them. "Well, there's a… disturbance."

"In the Force." Kayla completed in her best 'Darth Vader' voice, unable to help herself.

"Exactamundo." The Doctor said, nodding. "The Vortex Force. Something is seriously messing with space, and the TARDIS doesn't like it."

"What, just space?" Kayla asked. "Not time?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Just space. A big area of space. Huge." His eyes narrowed in thought. "You might want to stick around and help out with this one, Tektran."

Tektran raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

The Doctor nodded, his face abruptly serious. "Whatever this anomaly is…"

"I thought we were calling it a 'disturbance'." Kayla piped up.

The Doctor waved it off. "Yes, yes, anomaly, disturbance, whatever it is, _it's _headed for Reltakia IV."

* * *

Lea never expected her rescuer to arrive in a little blue box.

One moment, there was nothing there. And the next, a fierce wind blew her hair back, stinging her eyes. A blue object slowly began to materialize in front of her, and a noise filled her mind, like the breath of a giant.

She stared at the box that had appeared in front of her. She couldn't breathe; she'd been running for a long time. She could only hope their intentions were friendly.

She collapsed to the ground, unable to continue. Especially if this newcomer was another enemy she was meant to outrun.

The door in the side of the box opened, and a man stepped out. He had brown hair that was sticking up all over the place, and a long brown coat. After him, a woman and another man emerged. These two were having an urgent-sounding conversation.

"This is my world, Kayla!" The man said. He had blue tints in his skin, but otherwise looked completely human. "My home!"

"I know that." The woman replied, trying to be calm. Her brown hair was tied back in a (very messy) ponytail, and she was wearing black square-framed glasses. "But I'm just saying, the TARDIS may be the best place…"

"Please." The man intervened. "Please, I can not sit by and do _nothing._" He looked pleadingly to the man who had exited the box first.

The first man sighed but gave no more reply than a simple shrug.

The woman chewed her lip, then smiled tentatively. "Well, I could never sit back, either." The smile stretched into a grin. "Come on, Tektran, we're wasting time!"

The three froze when they reached Lea on the ground.

She swallowed, then whispered, "Help me… please…"

The world turned black around her.


End file.
